Heir of the Dragons
by jdlilith
Summary: When Gajeel finds out that another Dragon-Slayer may exist in in the world he was excited. He was not expecting the memories it would bring up or the changes in him. He suddenly finds himself in the middle of two love triangles and isn't sure how to handle things.
1. Chapter 1

Life in Fairy Tail had never been easy, but it seemed like things were down right difficult these days. It was hard to get back into the swing of things after being gone for seven years. When the Tenrou team returned they all had trouble adjusting to the new world they found themselves in. All their friends had grown up without them. Bisca and Alzak had gotten married and had a child. The guild had been a shell of its former self, with only a handful of members left. The people that were left had gotten a lot stronger while everyone was away.

Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy all had each other to help them through that tough time. Cana had Gildarts, not that she had any trouble adjusting anyways, she had always been a go-with-the-flow type person. Laxus had his team with him. Juvia and Wendy had both just started their lives in Magnolia and all their close friends had been on the island with them. Gajeel wasn't exactly one to make friends and he had seemed to adjust to the changes quickly. Levy felt like she was the only one still struggling with things months after returning.

Levy's team hadn't been with her on the island. Her teammates had grown up without her. Droy had grown fat but was still the same sweet man he had always been. He had never given up on finding Levy, but when they had, and she was still her eighteen-year-old self things had changed between them. He was twenty-five now and Levy could tell he saw her more like a little sister these days. Levy was alright with this, it made things easier in their relationship now that he and Jet weren't competing for her affection.

Jet, well Jet was another story entirely. Things between Levy and Jet had become … awkward to say the least. She couldn't even place all the blame for it on him. When she had first got back to Magnolia, her life had been in shambles. She couldn't even think of where to start picking up the pieces. Jet had been there for her then. He had given up on her in the past, believed she and the others were dead. He had tried to make up for that by being there for her once she was back. Jet had grown up well, he was handsome, mature and kind. Maybe that was why Levy had done what she did. Maybe it was because she was desperately searching for some stability. Maybe it was because Gajeel had turned a cold shoulder to her as soon as they returned. She couldn't say for sure what had influenced her to act the way she had, but she wished she could take it back now.

The single biggest regret of Levy's life was the night she had ended up in Jet's bed. She still wasn't sure how it had happened. Well … she knew _how_ it had happened. She remembered every horrid detail. She just didn't understand _why_ she had done it.

Levy was sitting under the rainbow Sakura tree in the park. It was late and the park was empty, which is just want she was hoping for. She needed time away from everyone. The girls back at Fairy Hills were planning Evergreen and Elfman's wedding even though they weren't even officially dating. There was a party going on at the guild hall to welcome Laxus back to the guild. Lucy was visiting her father's grave. As for Gajeel … He was back to his normal aloof self and that hurt a lot more than Levy thought it would.

That was what lead to Levy hiding out in the middle of Magnolia Park, under the Sakura tree, crying. Her life savings, gone. Her guildhall, gone. Her best friends, grown up. Her crush, ignoring her. Her old life, gone. She didn't know what to do anymore and she felt like she had no one she could turn too.

"Levy? Is that you?" Levy cursed herself as she heard the voice of one of the last people she wanted to see right then. She quickly wiped her tears away and looked up to see Jet running over to her.

"What are you doing out here all alone? It's not really safe to do that anymore. I mean, not with Twilight Ogre in town and everything." Jet told her, sitting down beside her.

Levy had to bite her lip to hold back a sob. Even her hometown had changed. She had never felt unsafe in Magnolia, even during everything with Phantom Lord, but now she apparently shouldn't be alone. How could things have changed so much?

"Oh, don't worry, Levy." Jet put his arm around her and pulled her close to his side. He could see the tears she was trying to hold back. "I'll keep you safe."

Levy couldn't help the bitter chuckle at that slipped past her lips. _Jet_ having to protect _her_ , that was a funny thought. "That's just one thing I don't think I'll ever believe." She joked.

"I've gotten a lot stronger, faster too." He gave her a shy smile. "Took seven years, but I might finally be able to hold my own against you. For maybe five minutes."

Levy did laugh at that. She knew Jet and Droy were good wizards but neither were really good at fighting, that has somehow always been Levy's job. They had always teased each other about how Levy was the strongest. Of course, if anyone else said something bad about her boys Levy would kick their butts.

"That's better. You shouldn't cry. Crying won't fix things. It just gives you a headache and ruins your beautiful makeup." Jet said.

Levy shook his head at him. "You know I don't wear makeup."

"So you're just naturally this gorgeous?" Jet smirked at her. Levy felt her face warm. Was Jet flirting with her? Jet had never flirted with her before.

"What are the tears about?" He asked as he brushed a stray one off her cheek.

"Everything. I guess I'm just lonely." She told him, she would never hide anything from him.

"You don't have to be alone. I know how that feels." Jet's arm tightened around her in an awkward side hug.

"You do?" Levy looked up at him, confused.

"I went seven years without the most important person in my life." He gave her a sad smile. "Come on, you can stay with me and Droy tonight."

Something in her gut told her she shouldn't take the hand he offered. She pushed that feeling to the side. This was Jet, he was her closest friend. She could trust him, he wouldn't hurt her. She walked to his apartment with him and by the time they arrived her eyes were dry and she was laughing again. She could hear Droy snoring in his room and she curled up on the couch with Jet to watch a movie. At some point during the movie Levy had ended up in Jet's lap. By the end of it he was kissing her. Alarm bells were going off in her head, but she silenced them. She wanted to feel close to someone, even if that someone was her best friend.

Jet took her virginity that night. It hadn't been a bad experience, he had been kind, gentle even. She had enjoyed herself at the time. The next morning however she regretted it. Part of herself hated what happened, resented it even. It was that resentment that put a strain on their relationship.

She could remember waking up that morning in Jet's bed. If she had thought that night had been a dream her body was quick to point out it had been painfully real. She was naked, her limbs felt like lead, and there was an undeniable ache between her legs. Her only saving grace was the fact Jet was still asleep next to her. She had rushed to get dressed and leave before he woke up. Her shame still ate at her nearly two months later.

Jet had understood quickly that Levy didn't want a repeat. It wasn't hard to misunderstand the obvious signs, as she had disappeared in the morning. She had made a point of avoiding him for the following three days. He had been worried that things between them had been ruined completely by his actions, but lucky for him things seemed to go back to normal after nearly a week. By the end of the Grand Magic Games it seemed like their night together was all but forgotten.

Jet couldn't say he was happy that Levy put that night behind them. He loved Levy, he always had. He thought she finally understood how he felt and returned those feelings. Losing her for seven years had been pure torture. He had tried to get over her during that time, it was why he hated hearing Droy insist that she was alive. Holding out hope that Levy would return only made her being gone that much harder on him. He had felt ashamed and guilty when she had returned and it was why he had tried so hard to be there for her, to help her when no one else would. He had thought he might finally have a chance with her, especially after they spent a night together. He didn't know what he had done wrong. He thought about it often and wished he knew the answer. As it was now, he was just happy she was still agreeing to be on a team with him.

The team dynamic had changed a lot since the end of the games. Jet and Droy hadn't worked together in the seven years Levy had been gone. She was the glue that held the team together and without her the two had fought quite a bit. The best thing they could do for their friendship was not work together. Now that Levy was back, so was team Shadowgear, with a few new additions. Jet didn't understand it, but for some reason Gajeel and Lily were tagging along on their jobs now. Neither he, nor Droy, were particularly happy about this, but neither were willing to say anything about it to Levy. It was agreed between them that they would do whatever made Levy happy. That seemed to include letting the Iron Dragon-Slayer on the team.

Having Gajeel as a part of the team had some benefits. They were able to take on harder job's now with bigger rewards. Jet and Droy were both stronger than they had been when Levy left and were now on par with her ability. Levy didn't have to save them all the time anymore. In fact, they were having to protect her more and more now. Gajeel had a tendency for picking out jobs that involved a lot of fighting and forgetting that Levy wasn't much of a fighter. Jet didn't understand why Levy wanted him on their team anyways. He was always running head first into trouble. In Jet's opinion, he was as bad as Natsu.

They had just got back from another difficult job and Levy was looking forward to a long soak in the bathhouse after maybe a drink or two at the bar. Levy wasn't sure what she was going to do about her team. Things between her and Jet seemed to get harder with every job. She hadn't told anyone about the 'biggest mistake ever' as she like to call her night with Jet. From what she could tell he hadn't told anyone either. She had hoped they could just agree to forget about it, and maybe he had, but with how he fought with Gajeel she doubted it. It was putting a strain on the team and they spent as much time fighting each other as they did working the job. It had finally got to a point on this last job where she had to admit defeat and kick Gajeel off the team.

"I'm sorry, Gajeel, but I don't think this is working. I know you are trying to find a team, but I don't think this is the one for you," Levy had told him after yet another fight that had to be broken up between him and Jet.

"I ain't the problem, shrimp, it's him." Gajeel said, pointing a finger at Jet.

"You keep leaving Levy unprotected." Jet countered. Gajeel had been enjoying the most recent fight against a group of bandits too much and Levy got caught in the crossfire. She had just managed to dodge out of the way of one of _his_ breath attacks in time to avoid getting shredded by the metal. As it was, a few stray pieces had caught her arm.

"If she can't watch out for herself than she ain't got no right taking the job." Gajeel told them. This was often his stance during these disagreements.

"You're the one that picked the job, Asshole!" Jet shouted right in Gajeel's face.

"Ya didn't have to tag along." He growled back at him. "Now get outta my face."

"Would you two just stop!" Levy shouted, jumping between the two of them. She placed a hand on each of their chest to push them apart. Gajeel's chest was hard underneath her palm and her fingers instinctively curled into his shirt. Her other hand was hovering over Jet's chest like it was reluctant to close the distance between them. She fixed her eyes onto Gajeel first.

"Gajeel, you're just not a good fit for this team. Maybe you would work better with Juvia or Cana?" Levy said, facing him. She could see the hurt in his eyes even though he tried to hide it. She didn't know why he was so insistent on trying to work with Team Shadowgear. She assumed he must still feel guilty over pinning them to a tree when he was with Phantom Lord.

"And you," She turned to face Jet when she heard him snicker behind her. "Stop picking fights with Gajeel. You know he could handle these jobs alone. He takes us along so we can get stronger. _You_ are the one holding us back right now, Jet."

"But, Levy …" Jet tried to defend himself but Levy wasn't having it. The two of them had pushed her last nerve.

"Don't, Jet. I don't want to hear it. Don't make me regret my decisions more than I already do." She saw the understanding on his face. He knew she was talking about sleeping with him. She saw how her words hurt him. She had cut him deep, but it had to be said eventually.

"Levy, you don't mean that." Jet said, his voice almost pleading.

"I'm sorry." She couldn't look at him, all the fight leaving her voice. She didn't want to hurt her friend. "Let's just go home."

Now, after one very awkward train ride home Levy was sitting at the bar with her first drink already gone and her second nearly there. It wasn't often Levy drank when at the guild. She didn't even have a book in front of her today. Lucy was gone on a job with her team and Levy's team was avoiding her. Levy didn't know which odd behavior attracted Mira to her, it could have been all of it, but she soon found Mira standing on the other side of the bar from her.

"I heard you got those bandits taken care of in record time." Mira said, trying to start a conversation. Her normal sickly-sweet voice was a little too much for Levy at the moment and she just shrugged at her. "Things not go as well as it sounded?"

"You could say that." Levy made a motion like she was going to close a book only to find there was no book there. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed.

"What happened?" Mira asked, setting down another drink for Levy. She downed half her drink before answering.

"The normal, Jet and Gajeel fighting." Levy sighed before trying to smile at Mira. "Boy's being boys I guess."

Mira gave her a worried frown. "I did have a job request for you but it seems like you might need a little break."

"What's the job?" She asked. The requests for her normally involve translations for obscure dead languages. She had a special skill. She was proud of the fact that, even after disappearing for seven years, she was still the go-to language expert.

"Dr. Windsor has gone missing. His wife was asking for you to find him and his team." Mira's tone was serious as she slid the job request across the bar to Levy.

"Adare! How long has he been missing?" Levy snatched the piece of paper from Mira. Adare Windsor was an old friend of hers. He had been the first person she ever worked for after joining Fairy Tail. He was the reason Team Shadowgear had formed. He was a well-known archeologist who had done extensive research into multiple old religions that had existed in Fiore for the worship of mages. The old temples he worked in were always littered with traps, both mundane and magical, and he would always contract Shadowgear to help in his work. At least he had before Levy had disappeared.

The job request said exactly what Levy had been expecting. Adare had been exploring a new site and he had yet to return. It said he and his two team members had been missing for a week, but Levy knew he could spend a month or more in his digs without contacting anyone outside of his team. It was possible they had been gone a lot longer than anyone knew. Adare had been like a father to her over the years. There was no way she was going to hand this over to anyone else. Team Shadowgear was specially designed to handle this. All they needed was a good tracker.

"I'm taking it." Levy told Mira getting up from the bar, her drink forgotten. She rushed over and told Jet and Droy about it. It came as no surprise that they both felt as strongly as she did. All three were still packed from the last job and had agreed to meet at the train station to take the next one heading east. Levy just had to grab some research notes and convince one last person into coming along. She knew it wasn't going to be an easy task.

Gajeel was at his normal table with Lily. He was making a pointed effort to ignore Levy and the rest of her team. He was aware they were scrambling together for some job, but he acted like he didn't notice them. Only Lily had noticed the change in Gajeel's behavior, of course he had been there to see Levy kick them off the team.

"You're being childish. This is exactly why Levy doesn't want to work with you." Lily told him. Gajeel didn't have a response, he was acting childish, but he didn't care. He wasn't about to admit to anyone, especially Lily, that Levy had hurt his feelings. He was Black Steel Gajeel, he didn't have feelings. Especially soft romantic feelings for a certain blue haired shrimp. Nope, he didn't have those.

Gajeel tried to ignore Levy when she came over to his table. Lily greeted her, but he only grunted in acknowledgment of her existence. Childish, yes, but he already accepted he was being a child. One thing he couldn't ignore was the scent of fear and salty tears mixed in with her normal scent of old books and jasmine.

"What's wrong, Shrimp?" Gajeel asked without thinking about it.

"I need your help on this job… Please." She added the last in a pleading tone. Levy had been working quickly to get this job together. She had struggled to keep her emotions in check since getting the request, but so far, she had kept the tears at bay.

"I thought you didn't want me on your team. I'm not a good fit." He reminded her. He silently cursed himself when he saw her flinch at his words.

"I need a tracker and you're the best in the guild." She tried to hand him the job request, but he kept his arms crossed over his chest. Lily reached out to take it, reading it over.

"Do you know this man? Dr. Windsor?" Lily asked.

"Yes, he is a good man and an old friend of mine," Levy said. She was surprised how normal her voice sounded considering the storm of emotions inside her.

"What can we do to help?" Lily asked her. He forced the paper into Gajeel's hand at the same time.

"The temple is going to be a maze. It would take forever for us to search it from top to bottom and they might not have that kind of time. Gajeel could sniff them out." Levy was looking hopefully at Gajeel.

"You know it don't work like that. Says they have been missing for 'bout a week. Scent trail is cold and dead by now. You'd be better off taking someone like Bickslow who could search out their souls," Gajeel told her, handing the paper back to her.

Levy had considered about that, had thought about anything that would mean she wouldn't have to stand here and beg Gajeel for help. The truth was, if the worse had happened and the team was dead, Bickslow wouldn't be able to find them. Not to mention, he was already on a job and wouldn't be back for who knew how long. She couldn't risk waiting for Bickslow to get back or Natsu. Wendy didn't have the tracking experience Gajeel did and, honestly, most of the members she had known and trusted were gone. Fairy Tail was still working to re-cope the loss of almost all their members. New people were joining every day, but she didn't know them. She didn't know their skill sets or if she could trust them in the dangerous situation they were bound to find in the ruins. She didn't really like it, but Gajeel was her best option at the moment.

Levy decided that she was going to have to switch tactics. "They are the only people to step foot in this temple in at least three hundred years. Are you telling me you can't track the scent of the only humans around for miles just because the trail is a few days old? I guess you're not the great Dragon-Slayer I thought you were. Maybe I should contact Rouge," Levy sighed, playing up the disappointment. "I'm sure he could manage just fine."

"What'd you say?" Gajeel was clearly offended. "Ryos got nothing on my nose."

"But you already made it clear you won't help," She sighed and started to tuck the job request away as she waited for him to respond.

"What's in it for me?" Gajeel finally asked. He reached out and snatched the request back from her.

Levy tried not to let her excitement show. She thought about what she had to offer him, she hadn't even looked at the reward for the job. She hadn't cared, she only cared about Adare. "You can have the full reward, I don't want it and neither does Jet or Droy. Adare has two boys at home, thirteen and ten. Their names are Luke and Dominic." She pulled a photo out of her bag. Her desperation showing in her voice. "If you won't do it for me. If you won't do it for the money. Then at least do it for them, Gajeel, please."

Gajeel looked at the photo. There was a middle-aged man in the center. He had brown hair that was cut short with a full beard. He looked to be shorter, under six feet, with a rounded belly. On his right was a beautiful woman with dark red hair. She looked to be about the same age as the man and from how she was leaning on him he could assume she was his wife. On either side of them were two younger men, in their early twenties at the latest. Both wore glasses and had messy brown hair. In the middle, in front of everyone were two children. The older one had dark brown hair like his father. The younger one had crimson colored hair that was tied into a low ponytail.

He sighed, "Fine, you don't have to get all moppy-eyed. I'll help ya, I guess." Gajeel gave in. He had always had a soft spot for kids. Between the two boys and Levy's barely controlled tears, it was too much for him to continue to try and keep up appearances. "You're just lucky I haven't finished unpacking."

Relief flooded through Levy at his words. "Do you mean it?" She had honestly been starting to wonder if she had completely ruined things with Gajeel.

"We would be honored to help," Lily said, getting a noncommittal noise of agreement from Gajeel. "We will head to the station as soon as we grab our things."

"Thank you!" She pulled Lily into a hug. She was about to hug Gajeel too, but stopped herself abruptly, blushing slightly. "Thank you, Gajeel. I owe you."

"Damn right you owe me and I plan to collect." Gajeel told her before getting to his feet. "Come on Lily, let's get ready."

Levy watched them leave. For some reason his parting words left a feeling of dread in her stomach. Did she really want to owe Gajeel a favor? She shook off the feeling, to help Adare she would do anything. She turned her back to his retreating form and ran off to get her research notes from the guild library. She had notes on every civilization she had discovered and explored over the years. She grabbed the books she needed to help with translations and went to pick up her things.

Thirty minutes later Team Shadowgear was gathered at the train station. Levy was half expecting Gajeel not to show even though he said he would. The train was already boarding and she still had yet to see him and Gajeel didn't hide easily. She was just starting to get really nervous when she saw his unruly black head above the crowd. She quickly waved him over and saw Lily pointing at them as the two men worked their way over.

"What is he doing here?" Jet demanded when he spotted Gajeel. " _This_ is who we have been waiting for?"

"Not my fault you can't handle the job on your own." Gajeel said, glaring at the speed mage.

"Guy's let's not fight about this." Droy muscled his way between the two men who just glared at each other over his head.

"If you don't want me to help find your friend than I'll leave." Gajeel turned his back on them. "Come on, Lily."

Levy rushed forward and latched onto his arm before he could get more than a step away. "Please, could you two just get along for this one job. For me?"

Damnit! Those tears were in her eyes again. Levy had always been so strong. She hadn't cried when he bolted her to a tree. She hadn't cried when they faced certain death against Acnologia. She hadn't cried when they faced a horde of dragons. But she was going to cry now just because he was being an ass about helping find her friends. He really could be a bastard at times.

"I'll behave if he does," Jet answered before Gajeel got the chance. A smug look on his face at being the bigger man and answering first. Levy was giving Gajeel a hopeful look.

"Yeah, fine, let's just do this," Gajeel agreed before he boarded the train. It was going to be a long trip and he didn't even know where they were going. Damn, the things he would do for this woman.


	2. Chapter 2

Two hours by train and another hour by SE car found the group at the mouth of a trail. The spindly little thing was rudimentary at best and led into a dense forest. Levy had been strategizing with the guys on the ride over. Gajeel had tried to pay attention, he truly did, but his stomach had other ideas. He hated his motion sickness, hated any weakness really. They were walking for close to an hour before his stomach had fully settled and he felt up for conversation.

"So what do we even know about this temple we are looking for?" He asked. He was walking in the back of the group with Lily flying alongside him. Levy was in front with Jet and Droy was standing as a buffer in the middle.

"Didn't you listen to Levy on the train?" Jet sneered as he shot him a look over his shoulder.

Gajeel suppressed the urge to growl at him. He had promised Levy he would try to behave. "I was a little preoccupied." Each word was dripping with his disdain for the speed mage.

"Preoccupied? You were practically sleeping." Jet came to a stopped abruptly and turned on Gajeel.

Gajeel clenched his fists at his side, ready to punch Jet, reasoning that it might be worth the scolding later. Lily placed one of his paws on Gajeel's shoulder to remind him to stay calm. The smirking bastard knew each and every one of Gajeel's buttons and he loved to push them. He wouldn't be so daring if it wasn't for his speed. Gajeel had yet to be able to land a hit on the smaller man, though not for lack of trying.

"Jet, you know Gajeel gets motion sick," Levy said over her shoulder as she continued walking. If the boys wanted to fight they could do it right there and leave her out of it. She wasn't there to be their babysitter. She was there to find her friends and that's what she was going to do.

"The truth is, we don't know much about the temple. Mrs. Windsor said they believed it to be a Dragonoph Temple. We have only come across one other temple like that and it was badly damaged. We didn't get much information out of it at all, I'm afraid," She went on to explain. The rest of the group started to follow behind her.

"Dragonoph? As in dragon worship?" Gajeel asked, moving up so he was walking beside Levy. "They're real?"

Gajeel couldn't remember much from when he was younger. Most of his early childhood was just blank. He didn't know how he ended up being raised by a dragon, but he could remember everything Metalicana had ever told him. When he was really little, maybe five or six he wasn't sure, he had been told that the Dragonoph would kidnap him if he wandered off. Gajeel had been convinced they had something to do with Metallicana's disappearance fourteen years ago, but after searching for two years and not finding any trace of them he gave up. He figured it was just a story his asshole of an adoptive father told him to scare him into behaving.

Levy gave Gajeel a surprised look, shocked he knew what that word ment. "Yes, that's exactly right. At least that's what we called them. They had carvings of dragon's all over the temple."

"Metalicana told me about them. Well, more like warned me. I always thought it was just the old man's way of trying to scare me," Gajeel replied.

"The best we could figure was they existed three hundred to four hundred years ago, but we honestly don't know much that will help us and I fear that what we do know is wrong?" Levy said, her worry showing on her face.

Lily whizzed forward from Gajeel to fly on the other side of Levy. "Wrong in what way?"

"Well, we believe they worshiped dragons and were either Dragon-Slayers or worshiped them as well," She said.

Gajeel let out his characteristic little laugh, "Gehe, I could get behind a group of people worshiping me." His little smirk remained on his face as he thought briefly about all of the praise and power and what it could do to sway Levy toward him.

"That's the thing, I'm starting to think they didn't. I was looking over my notes from the temple we found several years ago on the way here. There were multiple depictions of dragons on the walls. Battles with each other and battles with humans. Carvings of a man with a dragon behind him. A man inside a dragon. Over and over again. However, as I looked over my notes I realized it was the same dragon being repeated. I don't think it was a general worship of just any dragon I think it was worship of one dragon," Levy explained to them.

"Do you know what kind of dragon?" Droy asked, fear clear in his voice. "It's not one that's covered in fire like back in Crocus is it?" If there was one thing in the world his plant magic was useless against it was a hundred-foot-tall dragon covered from snout to tail in hellfire. Droy still had nightmares about that battle. He would wake in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, still able to feel the blazing heat over his skin.

"What are you so worried about? Levy said these temples were built like four hundred years ago. It's not like we are going to face any dragons. There's only one dragon even around anymore and no one has seen him in seven years," Jet said, clapping Droy on the back. It was his attempt to make his friend feel better.

Droy laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "You're right. What are the chances of us facing a dragon again? It's not like they worshiped …"

"Acnologia," Gajeel said, cutting the man off as he came to an abrupt stop. Jet and Droy both ran into him, but he ignored them. He was staring transfixed at what appeared to be an old, weathered stone hut. It was small and covered in vines, the forest working to reclaim the structure over time. The dilapidated hut would have easily been ignored if it wasn't for the makeshift campsite set up around it. Based on the tables and equipment scattered around, it looked like this had been the archeologist base camp. That wasn't what had made Gajeel stop cold however, it was the carving over the doorway to the building. The vines that covered the hut having been removed to make the image easy to see.

The stone relief carved over the entrance had been distorted with time. Parts had been cracked or faded away by years of storms and exposure to the elements. Most of the fine details had faded away, not surviving the test of time, but there was still enough left to make out the image of the large dragon in flight. There was no mistaking the shape of the wings, the large head and crown or the pattern that covered the beast. Anyone who had seen this particular dragon would recognize it. It was impossible to forget what the Black Dragon looked like.

Gajeel felt Lily cling to his arm. He knew his little friend was tough as nails, but the mere thought of Acnologia was enough to scare anyone. Gajeel himself would be happy to never see the creature again. Levy felt herself begin to tremble uncontrollably as she came face to face with the image of the creature that took seven years of her life away. The other temple had been heavily damaged, the carvings in far worse shape. She had suspected the dragon represented was Acnologia, but to be faced with the evidence was … terrifying.

As a human Acnologia had been cruel, sadistic, bloodthirsty. He had been responsible for the death of over four hundred dragons. He was single handedly responsible for the near extinction of all dragon kind. He allowed his Dragon-Slayer magic to consume him and eventually he became one of creatures he despised. Gajeel feared him as much as anyone, but for far different reasons. Gajeel could see himself in Acnologia. His past actions were reflected in Acnologia. If It wasn't for Fairy Tail he may have become the same type of beast. There was a chance he still could. The thought was enough to make his blood run cold.

Levy felt Jet put his arm around her. She wanted to push him away, but she needed the comfort he was offering her. He pulled her tight against his chest and she stopped trembling. Droy placed one of his hands on her shoulder to offer his own comfort. "So that's what he looks like?" Droy asked.

"Yeah, that's him alright." Gajeel rolled his shoulders to release the tension that was building up in them. "Don't tell me this is the temple, because if it is then your friends ain't here."

"Most of the structure will be underground. There should be a way down inside," Levy said, moving away from Jet.

Gajeel tried to contain his annoyance. Dragons were creatures of the sky, they did not like to be below ground and that meant he wasn't too fond of it either. "This just gets better and better," He mumbled to himself as he followed Levy and her team inside the small building.

"Just think about how happy this is going to make Levy," Lily said as he walked next to him.

Gajeel glared down at the tiny Exceed. "And why would I care about that?"

"Give it up Gajeel, if you didn't care you wouldn't have agreed to come along." Lily gave him a knowing smirk. "Face facts, you like her."

"I do n –" Gajeel was cut off when he impacted something solid. He had just been about to cross the threshold of the building when he walked into an invisible wall. Runes flared to life in front of him. "Are you fucking kidding me!"

Everyone turned around at Gajeel's shout. No one else had any issue entering the small building. The runes seemed to be specifically targeting Gajeel. He tried pressing against it, but the runes simply flared brighter and still refused him entry. Gajeel slammed his fist against the invisible barrier to no effect. He knew it wouldn't do anything, but damn did it make him feel better.

"Give me a minute to rewrite this" Levy crouched down in front of the wall and pulled out a book from her bag. She started trying to translate the runes into something she could read and then dispel.

"What type of dragon worshipers set up a barrier to keep out Dragon-Slayers?" Gajeel asked as he read over the runes. It was a very basic spell that simply stated that no one with Dragon-Slayer magic was allowed to pass.

Levy paused what she was doing, her head snapping up to look at him. "You can read this?!"

"You can't, Shrimp?" Gajeel sounded more surprised than Levy had.

"I'm fluent in five dead languages and decent in seven more. I'm sorry if I'm lacking in knowledge of the language used by an obscure religion we know nothing about," Levy snapped at him. She didn't know why she felt so defensive, but come on, how could _Gajeel_ know a language she didn't.

"It ain't a dead language. It's what I was taught growing up." Gajeel pointed to a group of ruins. "This says, 'Dragon Warrior' and over here it says something about baring entry. Over here it says something about defiling human kind. Basically, a lot of fancy talk for I ain't welcome."

Levy, Jet and Droy were all staring at Gajeel slack jawed. The men were having a hard time believing that Gajeel could read something Levy couldn't. Levy knew for a fact this wasn't a language spoken anywhere in Earthland, she could at least read every known language currently in use and this wasn't one of them.

"You're making that up," Jet accused.

"Are you trying to say I don't know how to read?" Gajeel growled at him.

"Well I've never seen you read anything before," Jet shot back at him.

Gajeel snarled at him, "Why don't you come over here and say that to my face."

"Why don't you come over here and make me?" Jet shot back smirking, knowing that for the moment he was safe

Levy tuned out the two boys bickering as she worked out the runes. She focused on the spots that Gajeel had pointed out. It took her a few minutes and a few translations before she was finally able to figure out the proper wording needed to allow Gajeel entry. She took out her light pen and quickly rewrote the necessary lines. As soon as she finished a fist flew over her head and just missed hitting Jet in the jaw.

"Missed me," Jet taunted from where he was now standing across the room next to a staircase that descended underground.

Gajeel let out a low predatory growl and took a step toward Jet. "Stay still you bastard."

Levy rushed in front of Gajeel and placed both hands on his chest. "Gajeel, you promised," She pleaded with him.

Gajeel turned his piercing red gaze to her. He wanted to argue that Jet was the one that started it but he knew Levy wouldn't care. She always took Jet's side on things like this. That thought was like acid, making his gut to tie into knots. He had to bite back a scathing remark. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath to calm himself.

The air smelled old and stale. There was very little air movement in the small building. He could just pick up the faint trace of something. It wasn't the smell of humans or any other living thing. It had the burning scent of chemicals and made his nose wrinkle. Whatever it was it wasn't something naturally accruing and it was coming up from the stairs. It was the only lead he had so he figured, what the hell, might as well follow it.

"Downstairs, lead the way, Jet," Gajeel said, insisting the speed mage go first. The chemical he was picking up wasn't that of perfume or cologne or anything similar that. It smelled toxic and if someone was going to walk into that he would rather it be Jet before anyone else. He had Jet head down first followed by Droy, himself, with Lily and Levy in the rear where it was safest.

The staircase lead them deep underground. There was hundreds of stairs and their decent took several long minutes. Each step they took downward dropped them into deeper and deeper darkness. When they finally reached the bottom, they were alone in pitch blackness. Even Gajeel, with his shadow magic, couldn't see anything.

"I got this, guys." Droy said and a few moments later the room was filled with a green glow. The source of the light was coming from small plants that were now scattered around the room. It was a small room with three hallways branching off of it. Gajeel sniffed at each before directing Jet down the right hall. Unfortunately when Gajeel went to follow he ran into another rune wall.

"What the hell?! Again?" Gajeel snarled. This wall had similar warding to the first only the wording was more complex. Levy kneeled back down and began working to dispel this new wall.

"It looks like this hall goes on for a long way. I'll start scoping out ahead for any more traps," Jet called. He grabbed one of Droy's plants to work as a torch for him. He meet Gajeel's eyes and smirked at him. "You guys can work on freeing the bloodhound."

"Remember, Levy said there might be pitfalls and poison arrows," Droy cautioned him. They had discussed the traps found with the other temple during the train ride. Jet just gave them a smile and a half-hearted salute before racing off. The glow from his light fading away quickly.

It took slightly less time for Levy to work out the translation for the new wall. While the wording was more complex she already knew the steps she had to take to make it something she could understand. They waited around for a few minutes after Gajeel was free for Jet to return. When five minutes had passed and there was still no sign of Jet, it was decided that they should go after him.

Droy lead the way with Lily flying alongside him. He dropped more seeds as they went that quickly sprouted into more lantern plants to light the way. Along the way they came across two pitfalls that had apparently been triggered by Jet. Unfortunately, Jet was not at the bottom of either. Gajeel watched, impressed, as Droy covered the distance of the pits with vines. They grew at unbelievable speed and latticed themselves together to make a bridge that they could easily walk across.

"So those two do have a use after all?" Gajeel commented as he watched Droy work.

"It would seem so," Lily agreed.

"There isn't a booby-trap that Team Shadowgear can't beat!" Levy boasted, proud of her team.

In a few places there were arrows scattered on the floor near the wall. Gajeel could smell the poison that the tips were coated in. The dust on the ground had been disturbed when Jet ran through but the arrows were dust free meaning they had landed their recently.

"Watch out for those arrows, lily, their poisoned," He warned his friend when Lily walked a little too close to them.

"Jet must have set these off when he came by," Lily commented.

"If we're lucky he got hit with one," Gajeel smirked.

"Gajeel!" Levy snapped at him. She was quickly reaching her limit with the two of them.

"What?" Gajeel tried to sound innocent. "I just ment it would be easier to find him if he was lying dead somewhere."

Levy rolled her eyes and walked ahead with Droy. It was best not to feed into Gajeel when he was in a mood like this.

"You're not going to win her over like that," Lily told him in a quiet tone.

"I ain't trying to win her over," He grumbled back. He wasn't going to let Lily know that having Levy walk in front gave him a great view on her butt and legs. He could handle her being a little angry for a view like this.

"Look, there's Jet's light," Droy said, pulling Gajeel's eyes off the view in front of him.

A little way down the hall, through the darkness, they could see the green glow of a lantern plant. They made their way down there, being careful to watch out for anymore traps along the way. When they finally reached Jet he was looking pissed off while sitting on the ground. He was on the opposite side on a large pit from them. He was backed up against the end of the corridor, feet dangling off the edge. There was two doorways on either side of the pit that were just out of reach.

"About time you guys got here. I'm a little trapped here," Jet said, carefully standing up.

"What way from here?" Levy asked as Droy set to work on another bridge for Jet.

Gajeel scented the air. It was harder to get a trace now. The chemical scent was stronger now than ever, but the air was stirred up now thanks to Jet. He took a few seconds to test each hallway. He could smell slightly more of it coming from the hall to the left. He nodded in that direction.

"Something's down to the left. Not sure if it's them but it's the only thing that doesn't smell like dust in this place," Gajeel told them. Droy instantly went to work creating a bridge to that door.

Things after that were easy. The remainder of the temple was designed like a maze. They didn't run into any more traps and Gajeel ended up taking the lead, finding it easier to sniff out the correct direction without the others in his way. He lead them through the labyrinth of tunnels. The green glow from Droy's plants creating unnerving shadows across the carvings on the walls giving the impression they were surrounded by dragons. The scent they were following slowly became overpowering to Gajeel. He had to cover his nose as they walked into a large room near the source of the smell.

The chamber appeared to be as large as the guildhall with a domed ceiling. There was an archway across the room and that was where the chemical scent was originating from. In the center of the room was a table with notepads and lacrima cameras scattered across the surface. It looked like this had been the room Dr. Windsor had been working in last. There didn't seem to be anyone in the room now.

"Gajeel, look at this," Lily said, getting his attention. He was floating near the top of the dome. In the center of the ceiling was a huge carving of Acnologia. This carving had not been damaged by time and was crystal clear. The image was so life like Gajeel was taken aback for a second. As he looked around he noticed the walls were covered in carvings of dragons and humans in alternating order. The humans were both men and women, some adults, most teenagers and some young children, as young as four or five years old. As Gajeel's eyes scanned the carvings, he noticed they all had an X crossing them out. He walked closer to the wall to examine them better and slowly walked around the room. Levy was doing much the same thing, circling in the opposite direction. As his eyes scanned the images, they were drawn to something that looked familiar.

He recognized one of the dragons just above head level on the wall. Their body was built with plates like armor, head smoothed back with an elongated pointed jaw, the long tail that split at the end like a shark. He knew this dragon instantly, would recognize him anywhere even without the image of the boy standing next to him. The boy had long wild hair with facial piercings in place of eyebrows and down both sides of his nose and his chin. Metalicana and a young Gajeel. Metalicana's image had an X over it.

Gajeel had reached out to touch the image of his father without even realizing it. His fingers gently caressed the image before tightening into a fist. He closed his eyes as emotions washed over him. He felt the stab of grief from losing his father like it was fresh, not something that happened fourteen years ago. He missed his father even though he acted like he was unaffected. He had always held out hope that he would see Metalicana alive again one day but seeing this image saw that dream ripped away from him.

Gajeel's body felt like ice even as red-hot anger grew in him. These people had known his father, they knew what happened to him. Gajeel wanted answers. He wanted someone to pay for whatever happened to Metalicana. He needed answers. He needed revenge. He needed his family.

Gajeel jumped when he felt a hand on his arm. He hadn't noticed Levy approaching him. He hadn't heard her calling out for him. His entire being had been focused on the image in front of him. He was lucky Levy was too short to clearly make out either image. She would have questions just as he did and he didn't have the answers for either of them.

"Are you alright?" She asked him, sounding worried.

Gajeel brushed her off and nodded towards the other doorway. When he spoke his voice was rough with barely controlled emotion. "The stench is coming from in there. Don't know what it is, so be careful."

Gajeel barely got the words out of his mouth before Jet was racing into the next room. Runes flared to life as he crossed the threshold. They didn't hold him back however and he was able to pass into the room easily. In the center of the room was the bodies of three men. Before Jet could reach them however the room started to fill with a purple gas. The noxious fumes seemed to seep in from the walls around him, quickly beginning to fill the small room. Jet attempted to run in a circle around the bodies and create a cyclone with his speed only to find he was unable to access his magic. Panic started to set in as Jet realized the situation he was in and ran for the exit. However, when he reached the doorway, the runes placed there would not let him pass.

Jet beat on the rune barrier in a futile attempt to escape. He could hardly breathe as the gas rose higher in the room, choking him. Levy rushed forward in an attempt to help Jet only to have Droy grab her before she could rush past the runes. Levy fought against his hold as she watched Jet beating his fist against the barrier. Tears flowed down her face as she watched the fear on his face turn into acceptance before his finally fell to the ground.

Tendrils of the gas were able to sneak past the runes and started covering the floor in the next room where everyone else was. The gas covered the floor before it started to crawl up the bodies of Droy and Levy. She didn't seem to register this new threat, her eyes fixed on Jet's body.

"Get as high as you can!" Gajeel yelled at Droy and Levy. He realized it was too late to help Jet and if they didn't act quickly they would face the same fate as the speed mage. Gajeel was already using his iron claws to quickly climb up the steep walls of the chamber. Lily had flown over and scooped up Levy before she could protest, taking her to the peak of the domed ceiling. Droy planted some quick grow vines that lifted him into the air to safety.

Lily, Levy and Droy were all focused on the gas that slowly filled the room, only covering about half way up the walls before stopping. Levy was crying uncontrollably. There was nothing they could do, no way they could have saved Jet. Knowing this didn't make it any easier for her to accept. They had never faced a trap like that, how could they have known what was awaiting them. Levy was mourning the loss of her friend and the fact that, in the end, she had never been able to make things right between them.

While everyone else was focused on the gas that was slowly dissipating in the room, Gajeel was focused on the wall next to him. There was more of the carving that were everywhere in the room, but it was one in particular that caught his eye. It was of a little girl with long hair and large eyes. What drew his eyes to this carving was the fact it was not crossed out. The girl looked familiar to him in much the same way Rouge had been when they first met. The image stirred up some dormant memories from his past. They wavered in his mind, just out of reach. He wasn't sure what that meant, but if this wall meant what Gajeel was beginning to believe it did, it meant that there was another Dragon-Slayer out there, alive.


	3. Chapter 3

The sound of Levy's sobs were the only thing that filled the chamber as the gas slowly dissipated. Gajeel released his hold on the wall and dropped to the floor to investigate the doorway. Lily lowered Levy down into her feet and was immediately pulled into her arms. Levy collapsed to her knees, her legs unwilling to hold her up. Lily allowed himself to be pulled to her chest as she cried into his fur. Droy came over and wrapped his arms around the suffering Levy, pushing his own grief aside to offer comfort to her.

Gajeel tried his best to ignore his grieving teammates. It wasn't that he was cold hearted … really … he just had a job to focus on. The scent from the gas was overpowering and Gajeel was forced to keep his nose covered or risk suffering from its residual effects. Jet's body was laying just on the other side of the threshold. His body was spread out like a rag doll someone just tossed on the ground. His head was held at an awkward angle where it was pressed against the rune barrier. The runes were flaring bright, preventing his body from leaving the room even in death.

Gajeel took his time reading over them. He didn't have a complete grasp of the language, his father only taught him so much, but he understood enough to make out the rules that governed the room. From what he could understand it was triggered when someone with magic enters the room. Magic was not allowed to be used within the barrier, nor was it allowed to leave. The presence of magic entering the room also triggered a sleeping gas that would put everyone in the room into stasis until they were removed from the barrier.

 _Sleeping gas? Damn … lucky bastard is still alive._ Gajeel thought.

Gajeel glanced behind him at the group of mourners. Levy was curled around Lily while sobs racked her body and Droy rubbed her back to try and calm her down. He sighed and rolled his eyes at the unnecessary water works. "Quit crying over there. He's still alive."

Levy looked up in disbelief, eyes rimmed in red. "Wha- What did you say?" She whispered, a spark of hope lighting her eyes.

"It's just some knockout gas. This says he will be fine if we get him outta there. Just need a smart shrimp to take down this wall." He gave her a small smile.

Levy gave him a weak smile back before brushing her tears away. She released her hold on Lily and moved over to the runes on shaky legs.

Pulling out her books, Levy sat on the ground in front of Jet's slumped form. This was the hardest translation she had done yet. Not only were the rules governing the room complex and multilayered, her eyes kept drifting to Jet. She would be halfway through a line when her eyes would be subconsciously drawn to the limp body. He looked lifeless laying in front of her. On more than one occasion she had to stop herself from reaching out to him. Gajeel said he was alive, she confirmed what the runes said, but he still looked dead to her. It was difficult for her to focus past the lump in her throat and tightness in her chest. They say you don't know what something means to you until it's gone. Levy was learning how true that statement was.

"How's it going, Levy?" Gajeel asked. His deep voice echoed off the walls of the silent chamber and caused Levy to jump. She had been staring at Jet again. She didn't know how much time had passed, just staring, willing Jet to open his eyes, to smile at her, anything. She could almost hear his cheerful laughter if she tried hard enough.

Levy sighed heavily and covered her face with her hands, tears threatening to spill again. "I can't do this. I'm not good enough." She choked out.

Lily walked over and put his paw on her arm, waiting for her to look at him. "You are the only one who can do this."

"I know you can do this, Levy. You were born for this kind of stuff," Droy said, offering his support.

Gajeel pointed to the last few lines of the text. "This is the crap about the gas. You deal with that and I'll … go in and … take care of … Jet," He said through gritted teeth. If Levy noticed the disdain in his voice she didn't comment on it, only smiled at him and refocused.

It only took a few minutes before Levy gave Gajeel the all clear to enter the room. The runes flared brighter as he passed and he stood just inside the room for a minute to make sure he wasn't getting to be suffocated before he knelt down beside Jet's unconscious form. The chemical smell still lingered in the room and it made Gajeel feel lightheaded. He moved Jet to his back and looked him over quickly.

"Still breathing. Heart's beating. Just out cold," He relayed to the group. They all breathed a sigh of relief. Gajeel's enhanced senses revealed things to him that normal human senses would miss. Even in the dim green light he could tell Jet was pale and sweaty. His heart was beating but it was slow and erratic, at times it seemed to just stop for one or two long seconds. He couldn't tell Levy that though. He needed her to focus on getting them out and not worry about Jet. "I'm going to check on the others." He told them before moving further into the chamber.

The light didn't penetrate far into the room. The three men near the center were nearly engulfed fully by the shadows. Gajeel couldn't make out much of their features. One was older with a rounded belly, the other two young and fit. One had long hair, the other short. He couldn't make out much more than that. The older man and one with short hair both were in decent condition. He could smell illness on the old man and both were most likely dehydrated and starving. The man with long hair was in the worse shape, worse than Jet. His skin was cold and clammy, breathing shallow, there was moments his heart would stop for up to ten seconds, then slowly flutter again. Gajeel was worried this kid wouldn't make it if they couldn't get him help.

It felt like an eternity that Gajeel was trapped in that room, but really it was only fifteen to twenty minutes. He stayed close to the man with long hair, listening intently to his heart. Gajeel was here to retrieve three archeologist and he was going to bring all three back alive. That was his job and he never left a job half finished. The dark of the room seemed alive and made Gajeel feel uneasy. Truth was he had never been a fan of the dark and no amount of shadow magic was going to change how he felt about it. He was relieved then there was a flash of light, indicating the breaking of the rune barrier. Gajeel could just make out Droy as he pulled Jet from the room and a small shape floated his way.

"How are they?" Lily asked, walking around each man, trying to get a better look at them in the dark.

"Those two are going to be fine," Gajeel said, indicating the two men in question with a nod of his head. "This kid's lucky to be alive."

Gajeel carefully picked up the young man with long hair. He moved slowly, worried that any sudden movement might be all it took to stop the man's heart for good. He watched Lily turn into his larger battle form to pick up the two remaining men. Gajeel followed him back to the larger main chamber.

In the main chamber, Droy had laid down Jet on the ground next to the table. He and Levy were looking over him, now able to see how pale he looked. Lily laid the two men he was carrying on the other side of the table, Gajeel following him with the kid. Now that they were in the light it was clear how pale and malnourished they were.

Levy was still worrying over Jet when Gajeel and Lily came out with the other men. She didn't even give them a second glance. It had taken her a while to figure out how to rewrite the rules in a way that didn't affect the reversal portion of the rules. She had figured it out in the end and now Jet was free. He was already starting to get his color back.

'"These guys could use some help." Gajeel said, pulling Droy and Levy's attention away from Jet. Droy rushed over and looked over the three men. He placed a few seeds around the group that sprouted into plants that put off a decent amount of heat. Next he went to each man and attempted to give them a sip of water. Levy walked over slowly to see how she could help and her jaw dropped when she saw the men.

The oldest man was clearly Adare, but he looked older than in the photo Levy had of him. His hair was thinning, his beard overgrown and streaked with gray. His face had more wrinkles including deep laugh lines around his mouth and eyes. His eyes were sunken with dark circles around them and his lips were cracked. When the water Droy offered touched his lips he greedily drank it up. Groaning as he started to come around.

The man next to him looked to be in his late teens to early twenties. His dark brown hair was cut close to his head. He had a weeks' worth of beard growth, but it was patchy and thin in places. It was clear he didn't normally keep facial hair. He had the same dry, sunken appearance Adare had. He looked familiar to Levy and looked enough like Adare that they could be related somehow. He blinked his eyes blearily as he started to come around as well.

It was the last man that had caused Levy to freeze in shock. He was far paler than the rest, with the same sunken features. He looked to be in his late teens at most, he wasn't even old enough to really grow much of any facial hair. His breathing was still shallow and ragged and it was easy to see he was struggling. What drew Levy's attention was his hair. It was long, laying around his shoulders even being tied back, and it was a deep crimson color.

A feeling of loss washed over Levy for probably the hundredth time in the last few months. It hit her at that moment the last time she had seen the Windsor's had been a month before the S-Class Trials, a month before Tenrou Island, a month before she lost seven years of her life. Luke and Dominic weren't little children anymore, they had grown into the men laying before her. She should have known, should have realized sooner, but she hadn't and it hit her now. Looking over the three men she mourned the loss of the life she could never get back, the life she would never get to experience, the moments she should have had with these children that she never would.

"Dom isn't looking to well," Droy said as he leaned over the man with red hair. He was the only one who had yet to start waking up. Both Adare and Luke were now struggling to sit up and look around at their surroundings. Both accepting water from Gajeel and Lily.

"Kid needs time. He's better than he was. Let him rest for a minute. Speedy is still out too," Gajeel pointed out. "I'm going to see what is so worth protecting that they set up a trap like that."

Gajeel got up and grabbed one of Droy's lantern plants and headed back into the attached room. The antechamber looked to be set up like a small library or records room. Their were piles of books and collapsed shelves littered around the room. There was a thick layer of dust covering nearly everything in the room. The floor was marred with overlapping boot prints from the men working in the room. There was a neat pile of books in the center of the room, near where he found the men.

Gajeel walked over to the nearest pile of books and wood and carefully pick up one of the tomes. There was an inch worth of dust caked over the cover that he carefully wiped away. The book was bound in leather that was cracked and slightly moldy. If there had been any markings on the cover they had long faded away. Gajeel opened the tome and started flipping through to see what secrets it may hide. As he turned the delicate pages they practically disintegrated under his rough treatment. He immediately dropped the book, causing a cloud of dust to rise, and picked up another that seemed to be in slightly better condition, treating this one more gently.

The books appeared to be had written journals or notes. The language used was the same that was found throughout the temple. The ink was faded and difficult to read in the dim light. Gajeel skimmed over the first book, looking for anything to jump out at him. After a few pages he put it down and looked at another, repeating the process with equal careful handling.

Each tome seemed to be centered around a different dragon and the activity involved with them. The first several Gajeel looked through were detailing the abilities of the dragon and known sightings of them, attempting to track them. At some point in each book there was mention of a human seen with the dragon and suspected to be a Dragon-Slayer in training. Each book ended in the same way, dragon and Slayer were eliminated. His anger grew with each book he looked at. Each of the dragons had been taken down by Acnologia and after, the cult had gone in and taken down the grieving Dragon-Slayer. The cult wasn't necessarily working with the black dragon, but they had taken advantage of the situation.

As he looked around he found the record of Igneel and Natsu. The book was as old as all the others. It was less detailed with a lot more assumptions about the pairs movements. It was shorter than the rest and in the end it stated that both had gone missing and it was assumed Igneel was dead. Gajeel didn't understand what he was looking at. The book was old, much older than he or Natsu were. Perplexed, he set the book aside and the questions it raised. One question being, who else might he find information on laying around. Gajeel turned back to the other piles of books, now searching with a purpose.

It took a long time for Gajeel to find everything he was looking for. Nearly an hour later he was sitting with four books piled up next to him and a fifth in his hands. He had found Rouge, Sting, Wendy, and his own books along with Natsu's. There was varying amounts of information on each dragon/slayer pair and they all ended the same way so far. He was currently nose deep in his own record, carefully reading over everything. It was slow going, but he was determined to find out everything they knew about his father and himself.

Levy was in the other room with the men. During this time, Adare and Luke had fully woken up and caught the group up on what was going on. Jet and Dominic were still asleep but looking better with each passing moment. Levy was sitting with Jet, his head in her lap and a hand on his chest while they talked. The gentle rise and fall of his breathing was comforting to her.

"We were getting ready to head back when we found this chamber. We thought another day or two wouldn't hurt anything. I mean, look at this place!" Adare exclaimed while gesturing around himself excitedly. "It is really fascinating. The people here were looking to try and eradicate dragon kind. It all makes sense now when you think about it."

He turned his attention to Levy, giving her an expectant look like he thought she would agree with him. When she didn't immediately support him he continued with his explanation. "I always wondered why dragon worshipers would build underground. The Dragonoph people were in fact terrified of dragons, Acnologia in particular. Down here they would be safe from a dragon attack on the surface."

Adare was addressing Levy as if she had never gone missing and they had spoken last a few weeks ago, not years. Knowing the man as well as she did it was quite possible he didn't realize the amount of time that had passed or was simply too excited about his most recent find to care. Luke was constantly watching Levy like he was worried she would disappear if he looked away. He was sitting next to his brother, as worried about him as she was.

"Me and dad had been in that back room a few times without any issues. We got a little distracted with our work, I had just finally cracked the language and we were translating one of the many texts in there. When Dominic came to get us, that's when the room filled with some sort of gas," Luke explained to them.

"It was a trap that is triggered by magic. Dominic must have activated it when he went in," Droy said. He was working on making some soup in the makeshift kitchen the Windsor's had set up. He didn't think it would be safe for the men to eat anything more than that.

"Dom is a wizard?" Levy asked. When she had last seen the kid he was just a normal kid with no interest in learning magic.

"Archive and Beast magic. It comes in handy at times," Luke told her. He let out a heavy sigh before smiling at her. "I'm so happy you're back. I missed you so much, Levy." Something in his tone of voice made Levy blush and look away.

"There will be time to catch up later. Levy let me tell you about what we found. There is a whole armory with weapons for fighting magic creatures. There are trophies too. Dragon bones, the skulls of babies, egg shells they turned into jewelry. It really is incredible, you just have to see it. The sheer number of dragons taken down by these people, ordinary humans, it really is unbelievable." Adare was clearly excited, talking rapidly, his hands moving around the room.

"It would be unwise to allow Gajeel to see that. I'm sure it would not sit well with him," Lily remarked as he shook his head. He was sitting on the table with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I would pay to see metal butts face," A weak, raspy voice said from the ground beside Levy.

"Jet!" Levy threw herself on top of his body, overjoyed that he was awake. She felt his arms wrap weakly around her and he chuckled softly.

"Maybe I should face death more often," He whispered in her ear.

She shook her head and hugged him tighter. "Don't ever do that again. I don't think I could take it."

Jet sat up and shifted Levy to be sitting in his lap. She kept her arms around his neck, not ready to be moved away from him yet. Jet wasn't in a hurry to move her either. "I thought I lost you and after everything … I'm sorry Jet," Levy whispered tearfully in his ear.

"We can talk later, alone," Jet said and Levy nodded. She moved out of his lap and went to check on Dominic. "How is Dom doing?"

"I think he is waking up," Luke answered. Dominic was starting to making groaning noises. Adare was still talking excitedly about their findings, not aware that no one was paying him any attention besides maybe Lily. Dominic was slower to come around, but by the time soup was ready he was awake as well.

Dominic didn't say anything to Levy, but he did keep looking at her. She couldn't help staring at him herself. He had changed significantly from his childhood. He was on the shorter side, only about a head taller than Levy, a bit shorter than Droy. He was built similar to Jet and in truth, Levy could admit that he was attractive. It was still weird to her to think about this being the little boy she use to teach languages too.

Dusting himself off, Gajeel rose to rejoined the group, the smell of food getting his attention. He had only managed to get half way into his reading about his father and it had yet to answer any of his questions. He had stashed it and the other slayers book in a pile of badly damaged and discarded tomes. He planned to tuck them into his bag while the other were busy. He didn't know what they meant yet and until he did, he felt like it was something that should be kept among him and his fellow slayers. After everyone had eaten, it was agreed upon that they should head back to the surface. At the very least to let Mrs. Windsor know they were alive. Gajeel made sure to grab his treasures before they left.

The three Windsor's were weak from being in stasis for so long. From what they could gather they had been asleep for four days in total. Gajeel, Droy, and Jet helped the three men walk. Even with the help they had to stop multiple times for the men to rest. It was a long trip back, filled with Adare's rambling about what they had found in the temple. It all made Gajeel's stomach turn. The most confusing part was the insistence from Adare that the temple was four hundred years old and had not been used in over three hundred.

When they reached the surface, they were surprised to find it was the middle of the night. Being trapped underground, they had lost track of time. With no other choice, the group settled in for the night. Gajeel had more than enough socializing for one day and headed into the forest, finding a tree he could sleep in while still in sight of the camp. Lily flew up and settled in the branch just above the one Gajeel was sleeping on.

-0-

Gajeel could feel the sun warmed metal under his hands and between his legs. The warm early summer wind blew his hair around him. Flying was such a freeing feeling. He could understand why his father loved the air so much, Gajeel loved it as well. He could feel the strong muscles moving as Metalicana's wings beat to keep them airborne. The rise and fall of the massive body under him as they sailed along the air currents. This is what he loved about being the son of a dragon.

Metalicana was flying fast today. His body tense as he raced towards the unknown. Gajeel could feel the fear and rage emanating from his father, but he didn't dare ask why. He knew he would find out when they arrived where ever they were going. Metalicana was a dragon of few words and most of those were sarcastic at best. The tension he felt though made him nervous. Gajeel readied himself for a fight.

It was the low growl from his father that drew Gajeel's eyes to the ground under them. The mountain range they had been flying alongside suddenly gave way to a crater. The trees, the grass, the very dirt had been scorched and blackened. Gajeel felt his jaw drop as he looked at the destruction. The ground was still smoldering in places. This was a battleground between dragons and it had happened recently.

Metalicana circled around the site for close to five minutes before he started his descent. Both he and Gajeel had been watching the area, scenting the air, looking for signs that the dragons whom had caused this might still be around. Only once Metalicana thought it was safe did he head for land. He knew who had caused this destruction, the same person who was hunting all their kind and while he was not afraid to fight the monster, he would not risk Gajeel's life so carelessly.

As they approached the ground, Gajeel spotted something white in all the black. As they got closer to what started out as a large, shapeless mass grew and grew until, finally, it was larger than Metalicana by the time they landed. The massive dragon before them had been one of the oldest among all dragon kind. Gajeel knew this dragon, was friends with him. Almost before Metalicana was fully grounded, Gajeel was off his back and running to the downed dragon. In his soul he knew it was already too late.

The dragon was a yellowed, off white color. His body was covered in massive plates that looked like bones. His head was protected by a second skull that laid over the scaled skin. One of his wings had been ripped off and the other laid draped over his body. The bones of his wings were barely covered with a translucent membrane that was currently stained with blood. Gajeel could smell the blood and early stench of rot and decay already starting to set in. The ground was sticky as he walked and when he looked down it was coated in the dragon's congealed blood. As he got closer, he could see the gash to the abdomen just hidden by the wing and forearm. Gajeel didn't have to look to know that was the death blow, he couldn't look.

"Brother …" The word was carried on the wind to Gajeel's ears. The pain in his father's voice was nearly enough to bring him to his knees. Gajeel had no family besides Metalicana, he could not even imagine the pain of losing someone so dear. The thundering roar that filled the air brought tears to Gajeel's eyes. The grief, the pain, the loss that was being expressed by the normally stoic dragon pulled at Gajeel's heart.

Over the sound of his father's morning, Gajeel heard someone scream before quickly quieting themselves. A jolt of hope hit him as he began to search for the origin of the scream. Tucked between the two forelimbs of the dead dragon was a little girl. She was curled against the chest of the dragon. Her clothes were dirty and she was covered in blood that all smelt old to Gajeel. She had long dark blue hair that was matted in more blood and stuck to her back. She was two or three years younger than Gajeel, making her about ten years old. He recognized her right away.

"Bones? Don't worry. It's just us," He spoke calmly, the girl flinched before looking up at him. She had beautiful eyes, the color of amethyst. He watched as fear was slowly replaced by recognition in them. Suddenly Gajeel was thrown onto his back when she lunged at him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Gajeel!" Bones clung to him, sobbing into his chest. "Papa …"

Gajeel ignored the fact he was now as equally covered in dragon's blood as she was, and wrapped his arms around the scared girl. "Bones, what happened?"

She didn't answer him, she couldn't think about it. She just shook her head and tried to bury herself in closer to him. Gajeel didn't push the issue. He moved them to be sitting against the dragon that had been her caretaker, her father just as Metalicana was his. He tucked them in under the creatures chin with Bones in his lap, arms tightly wrapped around her. That was how he sat for hours as the only two other living things in the area mourned the loss of their family member.

The sun was starting to set when Metalicana called them over. "Come children, we must leave, it's not safe here."

Bones refused to move and Gajeel had to carry her. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and arms around his shoulders. Her body shook with silent sobs. Her tears had long since run dry. He got them situated on Metalicana's back and they took to the sky. They did not head towards home, however, they headed deep into the mountains.

They traveled most of the night. Bones had long since passed out by the time Metalicana finally landed halfway up a mountain. He almost shoved Gajeel and Bones into a small cave there. It was much too small for any dragon to fit. "Watch after the girl."

"Where are you going?" Gajeel asked. He didn't get an answer as he watched his father fly away.

Two days later, Bones still wasn't talking to him. Metalicana had been gone the rest of the night and most of the next day. When he returned, he refused to tell Gajeel what was going on, telling him it wasn't anything to concern himself with. Gajeel did know that he had returned to the battle site because he handed Bones a necklace with one of her father's fangs attached to a cord made of his father's iron. Bones now wore that around her neck as she sat at the mouth to their little cave.

"What you thinking about?" Gajeel asked her.

"I'm all alone," Bones said in a hollow voice. It was the first words she had spoken since they found her.

"What am I? Scrap metal?" Gajeel asked. Bones gave him a confused look. "I'm here with ya, and I ain't going anywhere."

"Promise?" She asked, some hope lighting her eyes.

"Promise. You're family. You're stuck with me and Metalicana now," He said, yelping in surprise when Bones threw herself at him. He put his arms around her in an awkward hug but his arms met nothing. When he looked down at her, his arms were empty. Bones had disappeared.

"Bones! Bones!" He called for her but there was no answer. He turned to his father for help only to be greeted by a fading image of his father.

"No! Metalicana!" The image slowly faded into nothing. "No! Father!"

Gajeel jolted awake calling for his father. He was breathing hard as he woke from his nightmare. Looking around, he saw that everyone was still asleep, including Lily. He jumped down from his perch and tucked his hands into his pockets. He didn't know what was up with that dream, unsure if it was his imagination or a memory. He walked off into the forest to try and clear his thoughts. He would return before he was missed. Even as he walked, he was haunted by the images of blue hair and large amethyst eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm sorry it has been such a long time since I posted. I want to thank everyone who has stuck it out and returned to this story. I was in a bad place with my mental heath and needed to take a break (especially from this story seeing it gets really dark soon) and I also had a death in the family I am working on dealing with. I hope you will all stay with me as I work on getting my life back together and back onto a normal posting schedule.**

Levy was the last one to join the group for breakfast in the morning, well almost the last one. Gajeel was nowhere to be seen. The rest of the group was gathered at one of the portable tables that had been set up for base came. As Levy approached both Luke and Dom waved her over and made room for her to sit between them. Levy blushed at their excitement but took her seat.

"Where is Gajeel?" Levy asked as Droy handed her a plate.

"He was gone when I woke up," Lily told her. "Most likely he is wondering around somewhere nearby. He'll come back when he's hungry."

"I hope there isn't any more booby traps," Levy muttered mostly to herself. "If he gets stuck he'll be pissed."

"If he is stuck somewhere then you can break him out," Dominic said. His voice was deep and a little rough still from everything they had been through. Levy found it pleasant, making her stomach do a little flip. She was instantly disgusted in herself for finding anything about either boy attractive. "Beauty and brains, you're a knockout combination."

"You know she used to change your diapers, right? She's seen what you got and no one's interested in it," Luke teased his brother from Levy's other side.

"She did not! Besides, Levy is now way closer to my age then to yours," Dominic shot back.

"Clearly Levy likes more mature men, look at Jet and Gajeel," Luke pointed out, his tone was calmer and matter-of-fact than the hot-headed Dominic.

Levy covered her face in embarrassment as Jet's hands shot into the air in a defensive position. "Don't drag me into your fight," He said.

"I feel I should point out I'm not dating anyone," Levy muttered.

"So you're saying you're available?" Dominic asked excitedly.

Luke groaned, "You're hopeless. What makes you think Levy would be interested in you?"

"For starters, I'm actually trying to talk to her and not just staring at her ass all day like some pervert." Dom shot at his brother.

"What? She has a nice butt. You can't expect me not to look." Luke said in a defensive voice.

Levy's face felt like it was on fire. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to check on Gajeel," She muttered as she got up and walked away from the table. It took all her self control to not cover her butt as she walked away and into the forest.

The boys fighting over girls wasn't anything new. Both spent a lot of time helping their father on his dig sites and hardly ever got to interact with women. On the last dig Adare had brought along a female assistant who ended up sleeping with both brothers. That had been a huge headache. Jet couldn't really blame the boy's for their behavior and he couldn't blame Levy for wanting some space.

Jet became concerned when Levy had not returned after nearly thirty minutes. They were in a relatively safe area, but it was still unusual for Levy to be off on her own for so long. He had noticed her reaction to seeing Dominic and Luke again. It was clear to him that had been a shock to her. He knew that sometimes she forgot about the time she lost and forgot the world that had aged around her. He figured she just needed some time alone to come to terms with the new development in her life. As more time passed however he became more worried, images of her crying alone in the park in Magnolia came to his mind. He didn't want her to feel alone like that again.

Rising to his feet, Jet politely excused himself from the group, not that anyone noticed, and walked off into the forest in the direction that Levy had gone. It didn't take long for him to find her sitting on the ground, against a tree. It was a scene painfully similar to the one he had been thinking about. She wasn't crying, but she looked like she wanted too. Jet didn't think twice about sitting down next to her and pulling her against his side. Levy was stiff in his arms, but she didn't push him away.

"I know this must be hard on you. The last time you saw them Luke was just starting to notice girls existed and Dominic was still obsessing over animals," Jet tried to keep his tone light. "Remember when Dominic hid a frog in his brothers bag and Luke nearly peed himself when it jumped out?"

Levy chuckled lightly and relaxed a little against Jet. "I remember. I also remember Luke convincing Dom he was cursed and he had told him that if he walked on his left foot he would die as pay back."

"Dominic hopped around on one foot for two days before Adare found out what was going on." Jet said and they both dissolved into laughter. "Those boys think the world of you. They missed you, were dead set on looking for you," Jet said when they sobered up.

"I have a hard time accepting that I missed so much. They were just little boys last I saw them. Now they're full grown men and they …" Levy let her thought trail off.

"They are hitting on you," Jet finished for her. Levy shivered and unconsciously moved closer to Jet.

"Yeah … I just don't understand it," Levy said.

"What's not to understand? You're a beautiful, smart, strong, wonderful women. Of course they're interested in you. A man would have to be dead or gay not to be," Jet told her.

Levy didn't feel beautiful, not in the same way her friends were. Her flat chest made her feel boyish and she was the shortest person in the guild besides Wendy. She was smart, but that intimidated most men who didn't like a girl that knew more than them. She didn't think of herself as all that strong either. If it wasn't for Gajeel she wouldn't have lasted very long on Tenrou Island.

"I think you're a little biased," Levy mumbled.

"So what if I am?" Jet countered. "I think you're amazing Levy. You never let anything stand in your way; never let any problem get you down. You go after what you want and you won't let anything stand in your way. It doesn't matter how many different ways you have to attack something; you always figure out how to solve the problem. That's why I love you, ever since we were kids you've been someone I can look up to."

Levy tensed up at Jet's words and he immediately regretted saying them. He knew she was uncomfortable about his feelings, but he hadn't been thinking. She had looked so dejected and he just wanted her to see herself like he saw her.

"I'm sorry," He apologized. "I know things are hard on you right now. I can't really understand everything you're dealing with, but I can try to help. I know I kind of messed things up last time, but even with everything that happened, I'm still your friend. I want to help."

Levy had to take a moment and think about what he was saying. They had both messed things up last time, but she had felt better after talking to him. Jet and Droy were her closest friends. She had tried talking to Droy, but he wanted to act like nothing had happened. He was happy to have Levy back and wanted to ignore everything from when she was gone. Levy couldn't ignore it though. Things had changed, people had changed, the guild had changed. There was still so much of the past seven years she didn't know about.

"What happened while we were gone? With the guild, I mean?" Levy asked.

"Well …" Jet sighed and pulled Levy against his side again. He waited for her to relax before he continued. "We didn't even know anything had happened at first. Everyone was waiting for you to return; we had the celebration all ready to go. Droy and me, we were sure that you would pass and were excited about starting S-Class missions. I remember the two of us were fighting over something stupid when Macao told us the ship hadn't returned yet. We thought maybe the trials went a little long this year and nothing more.

"It was three days before anyone really started to worry. Wakaba and Macao went to Hargeon to see if anyone knew what was going on. No one had any clues for us. There were plenty of people that saw you leave, but not a single person knew what happened after that. After a week went by we started a search for Tenrou Island. It was slow going seeing the only people with knowledge of its location were missing at the time. We even started searching for Laxus, hoping he could lead us to the island. No one knew at the time that he had been there too.

"Other guilds helped us in the search. Soon rumors started about a black dragon, Acnologia, being seen off the coast of Hargeon. Rumors about him destroying some island," Jet looked at the ground but not before Levy caught the teary-eyed look on his face. Just the memory caused a hopelessness to fill Jet's being.

"That's when things really started to get bad. You were all assumed to be dead. Macao took over as guild master and he tried to keep Fairy Tail together, but without the Master the jobs just weren't coming in like they used to. Without work people started to leave for other guilds. Fairy Tail became a guild obsessed with finding its lost members." Jet could hardly stand to look at her. He knew what he would see. He didn't want to see the pain in her eyes. The same pain he had felt when he couldn't find her, didn't know if she were alive or dead.

"When Sabertooth showed up at the first Grand Magic Games they had these two young Dragon-Slayers with them. They wiped the floor with us. They became known as the strongest guild in Fiore and the only guild with Dragon-Slayers now that ours were gone. Fairy Tail became the laughing stock of Fiore. That was when it finally hit us that Laxus wasn't going to come back. Our last hope of finding the location of Tenrou Island was gone. We never stopped looking, even if some of us lost hope … I lost hope." Jet couldn't hide his shame at the confession, the defeat in his voice. The next part of his story was the most shameful, but he needed to get it off his chest.

"Everyone that was left dealt with things in their own way," he shrugged." A lot of the guys focused on their training. Sabertooth had become an obsession, it was like if we could somehow beat them, it would bring back everyone we lost. Droy was always one to eat his sorrows away and me …" He ran his fingers through his hair. "Well I took the Cana method of coping," He gave a humorless laugh. "Booze and sex. I'm not proud of it...I did a lot of things the last seven years I'm not proud of. I had lost the girl of my dreams, I was fighting constantly with Droy, the guild was falling apart, everything was gone and I didn't handle it well."

Jet turned slightly so he could look Levy in the eyes. When he next spoke, it was from his heart and emotion filled his voice. "You know I'm crazy about you, Levy. I know I messed things up before. You needed someone to be there for you and I took advantage of that. I can't express how sorry I am for that, but I'm also hopeful that … maybe … one day we can start over. Maybe one day we can do things the right way. I love you, Levy, and that will never, ever change." He let out a breath, as if a giant weight had been lifted from his chest.

Levy had this feeling of déjà vu as she looked into Jet's eyes. She could see he meant every word he said. She could see the pain and shame he felt. He regretted what had happened as well. Levy was trying to remember why it was she always pushed Jet away. It had been because of Droy. She had wanted to avoid fighting between them. That wasn't something she had to worry about anymore. Droy wasn't interested in her like that anymore. Maybe she should try things with Jet. Maybe it could work out.

Levy jumped when Jet cupped her cheek with his hand. "What are you thinking so hard about?" He asked.

Levy didn't know what to say. She could write for days about whatever came into her mind but, when it came to speaking the words out loud she always had trouble. Speaking made everything more real. Spoken words could not be taken back or changed later. Once the words were out of your mouth they were out in the world.

Levy closed her eyes, she needed to think. Why did she have this sudden need to act, to do something even though she didn't know what it was. It felt like something was pulling at her gut. It demanded that she move, but she didn't know if that meant closer to Jet or away. She felt her heart racing and breathing became difficult. She was starting to panic and she had no idea why.

 _It's because of Gajeel._ Her mind told her. It was true. It wasn't Droy holding her back from Jet anymore, it was Gajeel. If she was ever honest with herself she was in love with Gajeel. Completely, stupidly, in love with him. Gajeel didn't want her though, he barely tolerated her most of the time.

She might not love Jet the same way she did Gajeel but she did like him and more importantly _he_ loved _her_. She could be happy with Jet. She could see a life with him where they had a home and family. She would be happy in that life.

Levy felt lost and scared, she had ever since Tenrou. She needed the closeness he was offering her. She craved the solid ground he could provide. She felt lost in the world and Jet was her rock in the storm. She cared deeply about him and he could give her everything she needed in her life. That didn't stop the feeling of guilt. She could feel tears starting to burn the back of her eyes. She couldn't do this, not again.

Levy didn't know how it had happened, but while she was falling down the mental rabbit hole she was also kissing Jet. She had no memory of making any move to kiss him. Had he started it? Why was she kissing him back? She couldn't let this happen, not again.

She gathered the strength to push Jet away from her. She had somehow ended up on her back in the grass with him over top of her. She scrambled to her feet, not able to meet the confused and hurt look Jet was giving her. Levy wasn't sure what she was going to do, but once her feet were under her again she took off deeper into the forest. She ran away from camp, away from Droy and the Windsor's, away from Jet even as he shouted for her to stop. She couldn't stop. She needed to get away, she needed space to think.

Levy ran as fast as she could. She wasn't looking at where she was going, she didn't care. She could hear Jet chasing after her. She was well aware that he could catch her in a second if he wanted. He could use his magic to get ahead of her and cut her off. The fact he didn't meant he wanted _her_ to stop. He was giving her the option to get away even as he tried to stop her. Levy should have watched where she was going, but it was too late. She collided with something solid that grunted. Her momentum had both her and the object crashing to the ground.

"Oi, watch where you're going, Squirt!" Gajeel complained as he got to his feet. When he reached down to help her to her feet, he caught the scent of Jet covering her. Scents don't transfer between people easily and he knew she had to have been in close contact with him for an extended period of time for his scent to be this strong on her. He had to suppress a growl as he pulled Levy into his arms and started nuzzling her.

"Uh, Gajeel? What are you doing?" Levy asked. She was stiff in his arms, unsure. This behavior was so far outside Gajeel's norm she didn't know what to do.

Gajeel knew he was acting weird. He had felt off ever since they arrived at this damn temple. His instincts were in hyper drive and fully focused on Levy. He had been slowly changing ever since he joined Fairy Tail. He figured it had something so do with all the other Dragon-Slayers around. After first meeting Natsu, he had got this urge to … nest, for lack of a better word. It was why he joined Fairy Tail, bought a home in Magnolia, befriended Lily. After that he started getting motion sick, almost as bad as Natsu. Sting had said it was a sign of a true Dragon-Slayer. That it meant he was coming into his power. Lately he had been feeling a bloodlust when around Jet, something he fought against, refused to give into. When he was around Levy … he didn't want to focus on what he was feeling for her. Right now he _had_ to get the scent of Jet off her.

Gajeel sensed when Jet got close. His eyes snapped up to glare at the other man. A low growl emanated from him. Levy tried to push Gajeel away as she felt the warning that was vibrating in his chest, but his hold was like iron.

"Would you get off her? It's clear she doesn't want you touching her!" Jet snapped at him as he came closer, unable to hear the warning Gajeel was giving.

"I'm not the one she was running from." Gajeel's voice was deeper than normal, a low predatory rumble.

"I think you need to just let her go, Gajeel." There was a hint of warning in his voice even as Jet was trying his best to take a reasonable tone with him. He could sense that something was wrong and was worried that Gajeel might accidently hurt Levy.

"I think you need to take a hint. She don't want what you're offering." Gajeel moved Levy behind him. She took the opportunity to take a few steps away from him.

"Gajeel, Jet, just stop." She pleaded with them. This whole situation was already so confusing to her. The last thing she needed at the moment was the two of them fighting. She was already fighting with herself enough.

"This doesn't have anything to do with you. This is between me and Levy." Jet moved closer to Gajeel.

"Look, you got your one fuck out of her. Clearly she didn't enjoy it as much as ya think. Why don't you just move on already," Gajeel snapped at him. Both Jet and Levy gasped in surprise at his words, Levy covered her mouth.

"You told him!" Jet shot at her, having to lean around Gajeel to see her. "Of course you fucking told him. You two are best fucking buds now!"

"I didn't …" Levy denied Jet's accusations.

"Shorty didn't need to tell me. I could smell the stink on you." Gajeel wasn't going to address how angry he had been at the time. He could pinpoint the moment his hate for Jet started. When he entered the guild smelling of sex and Levy and she had vanished for three days. "You should leave her the hell alone. Unless you're into forcing women to do what you want."

"Ha!" Jet barked in fake laughter. "That's rich coming from the man that beat the shit out of Lucy for the enjoyment of it after bolting Levy to a tree. You're the last person that should be giving advice on how to treat women."

Jet didn't even see the Iron Club that hit him in the gut and threw him into a tree. It was the first hit Gajeel had landed on him since the day they met, and Gajeel had only gotten stronger. Jet barely caught his breath before Gajeel was attacking him again. It took everything Jet had to keep one step ahead of the attacks.

"Gajeel! Stop, please!" Levy shouted, but even as she tried she knew her plea was falling on deaf ears. The man before her right now wasn't her friend. This was the man he had been when he was with Phantom, this was Kurogane.

The fighting became more intense as time went on. Gajeel was using a combination of his Iron Club and Iron Sword techniques to keep Jet on his toes. He was cutting down or knocking over every nearby tree. The sound of the fight must have carried to the camp, because Droy and Lily both showed up.

"Levy? What's going on? Why are they fighting now?" Droy asked, taking in the destruction around them. He was panting as he tried to catch his breath after running to the newly created clearing. He had been worried that she was in danger and ran as fast as he could.

"I don't know. Gajeel is acting different. I don't understand what is going on." Levy told them honestly.

"I'll stop this." Panther Lily said, turning into his battle form ready to join the fight.

"Don't Lily! I mean it, Gajeel isn't himself. He might hurt you." Levy grabbed the Exceed's arm to stop him.

"What about Jet? He might kill him." Droy pointed out. Levy didn't have an answer for that. She just bit her lip and watched the fight before her.

Gajeel had taken on his Iron Shadow Dragon appearance. The field was littered with the remains of trees, making it hard for Jet to move. Soon he was going to run out of open ground and have to face the beast in front of him. He didn't have long to worry about that as Gajeel dissolved into shadow. Jet searched around frantically for where Gajeel might have gone, but it was no use. Jet didn't even see the arm that came out of the shadow at his feet and yanked him to the ground. In the blink of an eye he had the snarling Dragon-Slayer on top of him.

"Forfeit" Gajeel rumbled in Jet's ear. His clawed hand was wrapped tightly around the smaller man's neck, claws just breaking the skin. Gajeel could smell the fear coming off Jet. The sour smell was almost enough to make him purr. This was what Gajeel had enjoyed the most when he was with Phantom. The moment his pray knew they were caught, but still tried to fight. Watching the hope slowly die in their eyes, just like what was happening with Jet as he slowly tightened his hold.

Jet fought, kicked, punched, anything to get the much larger man off him, but it was all futile. Gajeel didn't even flinch as Jet beat on him. He could hear the others shouting at him, but he didn't even bother to make out the individual words. He was fully focused on his captured enemy, his competition.

"Forfeit or die." Gajeel did purr as Jet's fear shot up even higher. His heart was beating loud enough for Gajeel to hear. He could feel the rapid pulse ponding beneath his claws. A large part of him hoped that Jet would keep fighting. He wanted this man's blood, wanted to watch the light fade from his eyes. The only thing stopping him was the much smaller part of his brain reminding him that Levy was watching and she would hate him if he followed through with what he craved.

"You win, just get off me!" Jet barely wheezed out, giving up his struggle.

Instead of calming Gajeel, the words seemed to ignite his bloodlust even further. His hand tightened involuntarily around Jet's throat, crushing his windpipe so he couldn't breathe. Gajeel felt Lily grab his shoulders, trying to pull him off Jet. Gajeel grabbed him with his free arm and easily tossed him away like a ragdoll. The only thing Gajeel heard was the frantic beating of Jet's heart as he fought anew. His fear turning into pure panic as he fought for his life. The man clawed at the hand holding him, but Gajeel's metal scales made his fight pointless.

"Gajeel, stop, your killing him!" Levy's words somehow reached him. They were choked out through her tears. "This isn't you. You're not this man anymore. Please, stop!"

Gajeel suddenly released his hold on Jet. The man didn't give Gajeel even a split second to think before he wiggled out from under the large slayer and bolted across the clearing beside a worried Droy and Levy. He was rubbing his neck and gasping for much needed air.

Gajeel dug his claws into the dirt as he struggled to catch his own breath. His body felt like it was surrounded by fire, bugs were crawling under his skin. His senses were sharper, stronger than ever before, but he was fully focused on one thing. His eyes shot up to Levy, pinning her with his gaze. She was over a hundred feet away, but he could hear her racing heart, her ragged breathing. He could smell the salt of her tears mixed with her scent of old books and jasmine. Under that he could smell _her_ fear. He scared her and for some reason that excited him. A burning need started in him and grew stronger as her scent washed over him. His fangs were aching and his eyes found the pulse point on her neck. He could picture himself sinking his fangs in there, could almost taste her blood. He could almost feel how the iron in it would feed his power. The need was so great it was almost shocking.

Gajeel had to tear his eyes away from Levy before he acted on his impulses. He had never had the desire to taste someone's blood before. What was wrong with him? He needed to get out of here, far away from people, but he didn't trust himself to move. Every cell in his body was screaming at him to go to Levy. His need for her was undeniable, primal, out of his control. If he moved a single muscle he would lose himself. He would be on her in a heartbeat and nothing would stop him from having her.

"Lily …" Gajeel called out to his friend, hoping he was alright and would be able to understand what he needed. Luckily, almost before the word was out Lily was lifting Gajeel high into the air. Lily was still in his battle form and it was a good thing. The higher he took Gajeel, the more the man fought him. It felt like Gajeel was having his soul ripped from his body. Lily had the advantage in the air but it still took all this strength to hold onto Gajeel.

Lily took Gajeel far away from the others. The clearing he had created faded from view. Lily didn't stop flying until Gajeel stopped fighting him and went limp in his arms. It was at that point he found a river and laid Gajeel down on the bank. He immediately took his smaller form to be less of a threat to his friend.

Gajeel was coated in sweat and was trembling furiously. He went from being on fire to drenched in ice. Each of his nerve endings were screaming in agony. His head was swimming as his senses continued to assault him. He rolled over onto his hands and knees as his stomach violently expelled its contents. He could still smell Jet and Levy on his clothes. Only a whiff of it made his body seize up in anger and need. He had never experienced such strongly conflicting desires. He pulled himself to the stream and laid down on his back in the water. He let the icy mountain current wash away the scents clinging to him and numb his body.

"What's wrong, Gajeel?" Lily asked, perching himself on a nearby rock.

Gajeel didn't answer, couldn't answer. He had no idea what the fuck was wrong with him. His body was still assaulting him. The river sounded louder than a dragon's roar, drowning out almost everything else around him. He could smell every living creature that had passed by this spot for the last few hours, something that shouldn't be possible. His muscles ached like he had gone ten rounds with Laxus, not one with Jet. His head felt like it was going to explode and he was fighting a nearly overwhelming possessive need to get back to Levy. He had absolutely no idea what the fuck was going on.


	5. Chapter 5

Levy was worried about Gajeel, she had never seen him act like that. The look he had given her before he left was going to haunt her nightmares for a while. She didn't have time to worry about that right now however, she had to handle Jet. His neck was already starting to bruise and his breathing sounded wheezy. The front of his shirt was already soaked in blood from Gajeel's claws.

"Let me take a look." Levy said to Jet. Her hands were trembling as she pulled off his shirt. His chest was bruised and it was possible he had a few cracked ribs from Gajeel's first attack. Levy saw him wince as he bent to help her remove the clothing. He tried to hide it but she saw and it started her tears anew.

"Shh, I'm okay. He wasn't even trying to hurt me." Jet's voice was raspy, giving away the clear lie he was telling. He gently wiped away her tears before taking her hands and holding them tight in his.

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault." Levy said.

"Don't say that." Jet quickly reprimanded her.

"Yeah, Gajeel is the one that should be sorry." Droy added.

Jet wrapped his arms around Levy and pulled her tight against him, ignoring the pain the movement caused. For all the bickering and fighting between the two men it was clear now that Gajeel had never been truly trying to hurt Jet in the past. The moment he had put effort into it he had shattered a few ribs. Jet could feel it with every breath he took.

Droy rubbed Levy's back as she cried into Jet's chest. It took her a minute to get herself back together. Once she had stopped her tears she used Jet's shirt to wipe the blood from his neck and look at the wounds there. He had five punctures from Gajeel's claws that were slowly oozing blood.

"Let's get you back to camp so I can take care of those." Levy said, speaking softly. Jet and Droy didn't argue, walking back to the camp with her. Jet was holding Levy's hand and she didn't stop him. Droy hovered around her, keeping a hand on her shoulder in a show of support.

Levy was lost in her own thoughts for most of the walk. She had gotten herself stuck between a rock and a hard place, or a rock and an Iron Dragon-Slayer. When Gajeel first joined Fairy Tail she had been afraid of him but in time she had overcome that and started a friendship with him. During the Grand Magic Games she had realized she was crushing on him, hard. Gajeel had always been rough around the edges and a difficult man on the best of days, but today was something different. She had thought he had changed since joining the guild but maybe it had all been an act. Maybe he was the guy who took pleasure from hurting other. Maybe nothing had changed since he left Phantom.

Her eyes went over Jet, taking in his injuries. His neck was an unsettling purple color that was streaked with red from the oozing claw marks. You could see the circle imprint in his chest starting to color from where Gajeel had hit him. His breathing was shallow and still sounded wheezy. He was putting on a brave face but she could see the pained look pulling at his eyes. She saw how his breath caught each time he moved to fast or wiped the blood from his neck. He was in a lot of pain and was trying to hide it so she wouldn't feel guilty.

Gajeel had been out for blood and more. Levy wasn't sure what had stopped him, just grateful he had stopped. As she thought over the fight and the events leading up to it, she noticed something. Jet hadn't fought back. There had been no point when he had tried to hit back. He had only avoided Gajeel. Even when he was pinned he had only been trying to get free, not trying to hurt Gajeel. She had almost lost Jet twice in two days and it made her feel … strange.

Levy hadn't noticed that she had stopped walking. She was lost in her own thoughts. Jet and Droy both stopped to watch her. They had both known her long enough to be able to read her facial expressions. Something was worrying Levy but with the events of the last twenty-four hours it was hard to know what exactly it was. She was standing with her arms hugged around herself, chewing on her lower lip. Her eyes kept moving over Jet's bare chest and up to his face before quickly looking away. Jet would think she was checking him out if not for the concern etched into her face.

"I'll meet you in camp. Make sure they have a first aid kit." Droy told them. It was clear to him that his two friends needed a moment alone. He wasn't an idiot, he knew something was going on between them and that somehow Gajeel was involved. He wasn't jealous, he wanted Levy to be happy. He didn't care who she was with as long as she was happy.

Jet waited until Droy was out of sight and hopefully earshot before he approached Levy. "What are you thinking about, Levy?"

Levy slowly looked up to meet his eyes. "I don't want to lose you."

Jet was startled by her answer. He smiled at her and tried to laugh it off. "Don't be silly, I'm not going anywhere. Nothing's going to happen to me."

"You almost died, twice. This is serious Jet." Levy snapped at him. Jet sobered up immediately.

"It's part of the job. It could happen to any of us. It could have just as easy of been Droy that triggered that trap. As for what just happened …" He shrugged and winced slightly at the movement. "I was asking for it, really."

"Why are you defending him?" Levy didn't understand. Jet and Gajeel hated each other. This was the perfect chance for Jet to say, 'I told you so'. Why didn't he?

"Because you like him. I don't know why and I honestly can't stand it, but I know it's true." Jet looked to be in more pain now than he had during the entire fright. It felt like a punch to Levy's gut and there was an uncomfortable tightness in her heart.

"How did you …" Levy thought she was being careful with her feelings for Gajeel, not even Lucy knew how she felt about him.

"I've known you for most of your life, Levy. I can tell when you're interested in a guy. I just never thought you would be the bad boy type." Jet couldn't keep the venom out of his words and they stung Levy.

"I didn't think I was either." Levy admitted, mostly to herself. She was looking at Jet's feet, arms tightly holding herself. She was fighting the urge to run and hide again. She felt conflicted and sick to her stomach. She heard his exasperated sigh and flinched like he hit her.

"I guess you can't really help who you love. I just had really been hoping it could have been me." Jet didn't sound angry or even disappointed, he sounded defeated.

"I do love you." Levy said quickly, head snapping up to look him in the eyes. There was a look of disbelief there but as the words came pouring out of her mouth she knew they were true.

"I love you, Jet. I like Gajeel too. It's possible for one person to have feelings for two people. It should be clear by now that there is more than friendship between us. There is something here." She motioned between the two of them. "I don't know what but I've watched you nearly die twice now and I don't know what I would do if you really did die and this was left hanging between us. I want to explore this but when I do, Gajeel pops into my head and I can't stop thinking about how I'm hurting him."

Levy was frustrated and it showed in her rapid speech, her hands flying everywhere. She was even pacing in a small circle. Her brain was running at a million miles a minute and it only was confusing her more. Her eyes were burning with frustrated tears and she vaguely thought about how she had cried more in the past twenty-four hours than she could ever remember crying in her life. A pair of strong arms stopped her pacing.

"Shut off that beautiful brain of yours for just one minute and think with your heart. Don't worry about others just do what feels right." Jet made her look him in the eyes as he spoke.

She felt safe looking into those eyes. His black eyes were always so calm. They had the slightest bit of a sparkle in them anytime he looked at her. Levy could get lost in his eyes. They had never looked at her with hate or disgust, only love, desire. Jet was safe, comfortable, reliable. She loved Jet and she knew when she looked into the future he would always be there, by her side, no matter what.

She stood on her toes and pressed her lips against his. She was quickly becoming use to the feel of him. She knew the softness of his lip, the way they moved against hers. Even this new aspect of their relationship was becoming … comfortable. As her lips slanted against his, she was still thinking about Gajeel in the back of her mind. She couldn't help but worry about it, but she made up her mind. She was going to try things with Jet and she would just have to push Gajeel from her mind.

She walked the rest of the way back to camp hand in hand with Jet. The man was overjoyed and his good mood was contagious enough that Levy was smiling too. She tried to push away thoughts about the fight or worried about what had happened to Gajeel. The one thing she was having trouble ignoring was the pit in her stomach. She did love Jet, he was a good, caring, supportive man. That didn't stop her from feeling like she had made a huge mistake.

Levy wasn't sure what Droy had told the Windsor's, but no questions were asked when she arrive at camp with a bruised, broken, bloody Jet. Droy was waiting for them with the first aid kit. He set to work cleaning Jet's wounds while Levy wrapped his broken ribs. Jet couldn't keep the smile off his face even with the pain caused from treating his injuries.

"Adare talked to his wife. Jessica was very grateful we found them. He wants to stay for two more weeks and work on exploring some new areas of the temple. Jessica asked if we wouldn't mind staying to keep an eye on her boys." Droy told them as he bandaged his friend.

Two weeks of full access to the temple. Levy's mind swarmed with all the information she could learn. These were normal humans that hunted and killed dragons. There might be information that could help take down Acnologia. Not to mention is was a chance to explore the Dragonoph language. In two weeks she could become fluent in it and then just think of what she could learn, it was a once in a life time opportunity.

"I know that look. Might as well call Mira and let her know we will be staying a while." Jet said, a hint of laughter in his voice. Levy blushed, she thought she had been hiding her excitement. She wasn't going to deny that she wanted to stay. Her eyes went over to Gajeel and Lily's bags. She wondered what had happened to them.

-0-

Gajeel laid in the water for over an hour. He only got out once he could no longer control his shivering. It was a nice, warm day but the water was ice cold. He had some time to think while he had been in the water, Lily watching over him like a worried parent. He figured whatever had just happened had something to do with his dragon magic and the dragon soul inside him. The next logical conclusion was he would have to talk to one of the other slayers about it. That was where things became complicated.

Gajeel knew of six other slayers besides himself. One was a guy he had only heard about during the Eclipse Gate incident and subsequent battle. Clearly he had no chance of hunting them down to talk with them. Laxus was the oldest slayer but he wasn't raised by a dragon and often came to Gajeel with questions of his own. Laxus wasn't going to know anything. Natsu was … well … yeah, he wasn't going to ask Natsu with help blowing his noise, let alone anything this weird. Wendy was twelve, there was no way in hell he was going to ask her about why he had a sudden _need_ to fuck Levy. Nope, never going to happen. That only left him with one choice, Sting and Rogue.

The twin slayers of Sabertooth were the last people he wanted to go to for help, but they were his last option. Rogue was a decent enough person, had a dark side Gajeel already had to kick back into place twice, but he had a good heart. Sting was the real reason Gajeel didn't want to talk to them. The kid was almost as hyper as Natsu and couldn't keep a secret to save his soul. Having been both raised by dragons and having lacrima's implanted into their bodies meant they both felt the pull of their dragon stronger than any of the other slayers. The more Gajeel had thought about it the better a visit to Sabertooth sounded. Not that he was happy about it.

Lily looked up from his spot on his rock when Gajeel got out of the stream. His friend was taking off his soaked clothes to ring the water out of them. "Are you done freaking out now?"

Gajeel scuffed at him. "Yeah, I'm done."

Lily flew over and landed next to Gajeel. "Good, then we can get back to the others and you can explain this all to everyone."

"Nope." Gajeel tossed his damp shirt over his shoulder, leaving his pants to dry on his body.

"No?" Lily gave him a questioning look.

"You can head back to them if ya want, but I'm heading to Sabertooth." Gajeel told him. Gajeel didn't actually know where he was but he knew the way they had flown and that the town was somewhere north of their location so he started walking in that direction.

"Why are we going to Sabertooth?" Lily asked. Gajeel didn't answer him. Lily flew alongside him for several minutes asking questions he got no answer to. "Do you want to tell me why you were fighting Jet? What happened at the river? What do you plan to do at Sabertooth? Do you think Rogue will know what's going on with you? Is this a dragon thing? Does this have anything to do with Levy?"

Gajeel growled at him. "If you're not going to be useful you can go back to camp with the others."

Lily smiled to himself. So it did have something to do with Levy. At least that was something. "How could I be of assistance?"

"You could get us back to town sometime before nightfall." Gajeel grumbled at him. Lily had just been waiting for Gajeel to ask, and while that wasn't technically asking it was the closet he could get with the mood the man was in. Lily grabbed ahold of Gajeel and took to the sky, heading to town a lot faster than they had on foot.

By the time they made it back to town it was already dark. It was at this point Gajeel realized they didn't have their packs, which meant no food, no clothes, no cash. Luckily Gajeel knew the inn keeper and wasn't half bad to poker. By the time morning came he had the jewel needed to cover the train fare to Sabertooth and get some breakfast. Gajeel hadn't been able to sleep at all that night, images of Levy permeating his brain every time he closed his eyes and not a single one was rated PG13.

Gajeel always knew he had an attraction to the little script mage but it had never been like this. He couldn't think about her without getting hard, and he couldn't stop thinking about her. Everything seemed to remind him of her all of a sudden and the need to get back to her was stronger than ever. More than once during the night he had caught himself already half way to the door, planning on heading back to that temple, back to Levy. He had never felt a need to be with someone like this and he didn't like it, not one bit.

Gajeel was actually thankful for the motion sickness on the train. It gave him something else to think about besides Levy. That being said, he was still glad to be on solid ground again even if it meant he was standing in front of the Sabertooth guildhall. He could already hear the commotion coming from inside and was starting to get a headache. How Sting could handle running such a noisy guild he would never understand.

Gajeel wasn't surprised by the controlled chaos that greeted them when he and Lily walked in. It looked as if they were celebrating something. Their party was just as wild as any held by Fairy Tail except there wasn't any fighting … yet. There was a number of people wearing swimsuits and moving in and out from a back door to the bar. Apparently Fairy's weren't the only ones that liked to swim. Gajeel looked around for a familiar face. His gaze finally landed on a girl with short white hair dressed in a white dress with blue accents and a blue flower hair pin.

"Hey, you! You're friends with Bunny Girl!" Gajeel shouted at her as he walked right at her, leaving no question who he was talking too.

Yukino looked around nervously, hoping he might be talking about someone else as she took a step back from his approaching form.

"Aye! Where do you think you're going?" Gajeel said, rushing to cut off her retreat.

"Excuse him, he has been having a few rough days." Lily said, floating between Gajeel and Yukino, trying to look unintimidating.

Yukino's look of fear faded as she recognized Lily and then Gajeel. "You two are from Fairy Tail. I remember seeing you during the games."

"I'm Panther Lily and this brute is Gajeel." Lily said, Gajeel huffed at his introduction.

"What are two Fairy Tail wizards doing here?" Yukino asked before her cheeks turned pink, realizing how rude that sounded. "Not that you aren't welcome here. I just meant what brings you here?"

"I'm looking for Ryos. Have you seen him?" Gajeel asked, still looking around.

Yukino looked at him, confused again. "There's no one in the guild by that name."

"He means Rogue. Could you tell us where him or Sting would be, please?" Lily said, trying to be the diplomatic one. They may be on friendly terms with Sabertooth now but they were still visiting a rival guild. It didn't hurt to be on ones best behavior.

"Oh, well Sting is most likely in the pool. I believe Rogue was working in the guild library." She pointed to a door to their left. Gajeel made a bee line for that door.

"Thank you very much, Ms. Yukino." Lily said, bowing to her before following after Gajeel.

Sabertooth's library was much smaller than Fairy Tail's. It didn't come as much of a surprise seeing the only member of their guild that liked reading had an eidetic memory so there wasn't much need for keeping books around. Rogue was currently sitting in a chair with a book in one hand, his other was stroking Frosch's head. The green cat was wearing it's typical pink frog outfit while Rogue was reading a children's book.

"Man, this is so sweet I might puke." Gajeel said when he saw them. He was honestly happy he found Panther Lily and didn't end up with a juvenile Exceed like Frosch or Happy.

"Gajeel, what brings you here?" Rogue asked, putting the book down.

"If Gajeel feels sick he should lay down, right Rogue?" Frosch said, waving to Gajeel and Lily.

"I'm not allowed to visit?" Gajeel joked.

"Of course you can, but it's not like you to visit without a reason." Rogue pointed out.

"Does attacking ones friends without reason count?" Lily asked. He knew they would play this back and forth game all day if he didn't say anything.

"I had my reasons!" Gajeel said.

"Oh, such as?" Lily asked.

Gajeel glared at him. "He was getting too cozy with Levy." Gajeel tried to sound dignified even with his pathetic reasoning.

"He was getting cozy?" Rogue asked with a raised an eyebrow at him. "With Levy? Who is Levy?"

"A guild mate." Gajeel said like it was no big deal.

"You attacked a friend for getting 'cozy' with a guild mate?" Rogue questioned.

"I wouldn't call him a friend." Gajeel grumbled. Rogue only raised an eyebrow at him, clearly not accepting that expiation.

"Come on Rogue, there's a party going on out here!" Stings voice announced his arrival before he walked in the door. He was wearing only a pair of white swim trunks with a towel around his shoulders. There was some type of black tattoo poking out under the towel that Gajeel couldn't make out, nor did he care to try.

"Rogue was reading me a story." Frosch said as the frog dressed Exceed ran over to Sting. "Look who came to visit!"

Sting hadn't missed Gajeel in the room. Their eyes met and neither said anything. While the two weren't exactly enemies anymore Sting still had a hard time trusting Gajeel. The other man knew something about Rogue that he had failed to share with Sting, something that even Rogue couldn't remember.

"What are you doing here?" Lector demanded. A little brown cat yelling at the towering Dragon-Slayer was almost comical. "We don't want you here."

"He came for … advice. I actually think Sting may be the best one to answer his questions." Rogue said, trying to be diplomatic.

"Like hell I'm talking to him." Gajeel snapped.

"Then you are free to leave. I'm sure you remember the way." Sting told him, walking over to Rogue and placing his hands on the still seated man's shoulders. Rogue leaned back into Sting in a moved of practiced comfort.

"Fine, let's go, Lily." Gajeel said, turning to the door.

"You can go, Gajeel. I'm going to hear them out." Lily said, not moving an inch from his spot.

"What?!" Gajeel shouted in disbelief. "You really think they can help?"

"Gajeel, you have been moody, short tempered, and an all-around jerk for weeks now. And for me to comment you know it has to be bad. You have now attacked a teammate for, in your own words, getting cozy with Levy. He is her best friend and I don't see how who she chooses to be close to is any reason for you to attempt to kill them." Gajeel opened his mouth to argue with Lily, but the Exceed wasn't having it. "That's exactly what you almost did, Gajeel. You've now been sick for days for no reason. You know something is wrong and even you suspect it has to do with your magic or you wouldn't have dragged us out here. Now you can leave if you want, but I'm getting answers."

Gajeel was glaring at Lily, attempting to murder his friend with just a look because he didn't have a real argument. When Sting burst into laughter Gajeel turned his murderous look onto him. "What the hell are you laughing at?"

"Did Gajeel really go and pick himself a mate? I never thought that would happen." Sting was doubled over in laughter, struggling to get the words out.

"Mate?" Lily asked, looking at the three Dragon-Slayers for an explanation. Sting was still trying to control his laughter and Rogue appeared to be blushing. Gajeel had a horrified look on his face as the word seemed to have triggered a memory.

Gajeel had just returned from a trip into a human village for supplies and was now sitting in the sun with Metalicana. Gajeel wasn't around other humans very often and something he saw in the village had interested him. "Do you have a wife?" He asked his father figure.

"Marriage is a human concept." Metalicana answered him.

"Then how do you have children?" Gajeel questioned.

"With sex. It is the same for almost every species on the planet." The dragon was already sounding exasperated with his ward. He hated the quizzical nature of human children.

"I thought children were born from love." Gajeel continued.

"Another human concept." Metalicana grumbled.

"Do dragons not love?"

Metalicana heaved a sigh large enough to blow the branches of nearby trees. "Dragons can and do love. Some even choose to spend large portions of their lives with a partner they mark as their mate. A stupid decision that weakens all dragon kin in my option." The dragon rose to his feet then. "We must continue your training."

"Human's don't have mates. Mating is a dragon concept." Gajeel said in much the same exasperated voice Metalicana would use.

"A dragon and Dragon-Slayer concept." Sting said, sobering up. He pulled off the towel over his shoulders to fully show off the mark there. Draped over his shoulders was the wings of a black dragon, the head of which was along his right collarbone near his neck. The body of the dragon took up most of his upper back.

"Sting was the first Dragon-Slayer to take a mate." Lector said, like it was something to be proud of.

"Sting loves Rogue." Frosch added in helpfully, causing the latter man to blush and pick the cat up.

Both Gajeel and Lily looked severely confused. Gajeel kept looking between the two younger slayers trying to understand what exactly was going on.

"You need to explain things, Sting." Rogue said. "You were the one in Gajeel's position after all."

Sting gave an overly bright, slightly cocky grin. "Apparently back during the games when I attacked Jiemma for hurting Rogue and Lector, then saved his ass from the dragons and his future self, it triggered a mating ritual of sorts."

"You make it sound like I was weak and defenseless. I remember saving you a few times as well." Rogue chimed in but Sting just waved him off.

"Went through much the same thing you're dealing with. I was moody, couldn't sleep, didn't eat, being away from Rogue made me ill. Took just over a week of misery before a gave in to my instincts and pinned Rogue to the wall in my office. Man, you want to talk about –"

"And that's all Gajeel needs to hear I think." Rogue said, cutting Sting off before he could get into the details of the act of mating. He had his hands over Frosch's ears, protecting the young Exceed from hearing anything inappropriate.

Gajeel actually looked a little green, unable to avoid the mental images from forming. "I don't think I needed to hear any of that."

"I placed my mark that day and Rogue placed his a few days later." Sting pulled down the high collar of Rogues shirt to show the head of a white dragon against his skin. Rogue smacked his hand away.

"So you mean to say the two of you are …" Lily tried to find the right word but couldn't think of one. He was having trouble wrapping his mind around the idea that the two men might be in a romantic relationship.

"Mated." Rogue supplied.

"Or you could think of it like married." Sting offered.

It took Gajeel a good ten seconds to fully digest what he was being told. Once he did he quickly decided that he did not like it, at all. "Lily, we're leaving." He snapped.

"Wait, Gajeel, there's more we have to tell you." Rogue said, he was up and across the room trying to stop Gajeel from leaving.

Gajeel pulled away violently when Rogue tried to touch him. He wasn't sure why he was reacting so strongly to the information that had been presented to him. For some reason he felt like Rogue had betrayed him somehow. He wasn't sure if it was the fact he was gay or that he was in a relationship with Sting, but it was something Gajeel didn't want to face at that moment. He ignored the hurt look on Rogues face as he pushed past him and out the door. Lily muttered an apology before he followed after him.

"Why is Gajeel leaving? We didn't even get to play." Frosch said, looking sadly at the door.

"Because he is a close-minded jerk." Lector said. "We don't want him around here anyways."


	6. Chapter 6

Cobra was sitting alone in his cell. It wasn't so bad when he thought about it. It was quiet, the most quiet he had had in his life. So quiet it was maddening at times. But the outside world was so loud. The brief freedom he had been allowed, to fight against the dragons, real dragons, had reminded him why he choose to be in this cell. All the voices, the thoughts and souls of all the people of Crocus, it just wasn't a world he was meant to live in anymore. The only saving grace was he had been allowed to hear that voice again. Her voice. Cubellios.

He had heard her voice again and she was safe. He did not know why she was in Crocus but he was thankful she had been. She was the reason he had returned to this cell. He would gladly hand over his freedom a hundred times over to keep her safe. His only regret was that he would never get to know her as the human she had become. He would never get to see her again. Of course, that was probably for the best. He would bring her nothing but trouble.

Cobra heard the intruder long before they reached his cell. He didn't recognize the soul but he knew they weren't sent by the magic counsel, they only ever sent the same two men and only if they needed a favor from him. Cobra wasn't allowed human contact of any kind unless it was on _their_ terms. The intruder, a woman judging by her scent, stayed in the shadows on his blinded side. He sat on the floor with his eye closed and arms crossed, listening to her thoughts.

 _He's cuter than I thought he would be. A lot of heavy protection needed to hold him too. He should work out wonderfully for my plans._ The women might as well have been broadcasting her thoughts right into his ears. She had gone through a lot of trouble to track him down considering she seemed to be so ill informed about his magic. No need for him to broadcast that to her though.

"Are you going to just stand there or are you going to tell me why you're interrupting my quiet time?" Cobra asked. He smirked at her quick intake of breath. He had startled her, good.

"How did you know I was here?" Her voice was silky smooth, it had a strange calming effect on him.

"Dragon-Slayer sense of smell, same as you." Cobra could smell the faint reptilian scent that clung to all the Dragon-Slayers coming off her, hers was stronger than most.

 _He's observant, good._ The women thought before responding out loud. "I have an offer for you."

"Not interested." Cobra still was pointedly not looking at the women.

"You don't know what I have to offer yet." She took a step forward so she was just hidden by the shadows. "I have information on someone very near and dear to your heart." _I know you'll do anything to protect that stupid girl._

Years of practice came into play, allowing Cobra to appear unaffected by her words. Inside he was seething. If she did anything to hurt Cubellios it would be the last thing she ever did. "Whoever you got your information from is wrong. I don't care about anybody but myself."

"Oh, not even a little purple haired girl that was cursed into the body of a snake?" She had that sickly sweet, false confusion tone down to an art. "I believed you called her Cubellios." _We can do this the easy way, or I can bring you the body of your love._

Cobra snarled and launched himself at the bars of his cell. His poisoned claws lashed out but were still feet from being able to reach the shadow cloaked figure. "Don't you dare hurt her!"

"So you _can_ hear peoples thoughts." He could hear the smirk in her voice. He cursed himself, only just now realizing she had been testing him. "You're just what I need."

"Tell me where Cubellios is." Cobra demanded.

"I don't know where she is. But I know who does, Fairy Tail." She was laughing at him, he could hear it in her voice and in her head. She knew she had the leverage she needed over him.

"Then it sounds like you have nothing to offer me." He moved back away from the cell bars.

"I can offer you freedom and access to Fairy Tail mages. In exchange I want your help in subduing and questioning them." The women told him.

"And what stops me from killing you as soon as I get out of here?" Cobra asked, already planning on doing just that.

"Oh, I have my ways of dealing with men." She cooed. As she spoke a new scent filled the small room. It had the sweet floral scent of belladonna mixed with the bitter almonds scent of cyanide the final underlying tone being that of lavender. The scent washed over Cobra like a drug. His entire being relaxed and he felt like he was floating. _Is this what it feels like to be high?_ He wondered, not that he would know, he couldn't get high.

"Will you help me, Erik?" The women asked. She was soft spoken and her words went over him like a caress. He was practically purring as he nodded at her. He would do whatever she wanted as long as he could continue to feel like this.

 _That's right, my pet, you're all mine now._ She thought as she opened his cell door. Her plan was coming along just as she expected.

-0-

Gajeel's stomach was tied in knots as they arrived in Magnolia and it wasn't just from the train ride. Everything Sting and Rogue had told him was rattling around inside his head. He had questions, a lot of questions, but had been to freaked out to listen to them. He wasn't sure why the idea of Sting and Rogue together … romantically together made his stomach queasy, but it did. It had fully taken his mind off Dragonoph temple and all the questions he still had from that. He had almost pushed Levy from his mind also, at least he had until they arrived in Magnolia.

Gajeel wasn't _scared_ of seeing Levy. He wasn't _avoiding_ the guildhall on the off chance her or Jet might be there. He certainly wasn't _worried_ about what they might have told people. That Natsu or Wendy might recognize what his behavior meant and tell everyone. That his feelings for Levy would be exposed to the entire guild. That the master might kick him out for attacking Jet and he would be back on the streets with nothing and no one. The fact he had just insulted the only person in Earthland that would take him in all over the person he chose to love meaning he would be left completely alone and probably end up in some dark guild again having to hurt people and losing any chance he ever had with Levy. None of that even entered his mind … more than a hundred times.

Gajeel took the cowards way out and headed right for his house when they got into town. He only had to half lie about feeling like shit and needing sleep. The home was a small one-bedroom single story building one the edge of town. He intentionally bought a place on the opposite side of town from Natsu. It was a longer walk to the guild and train station but it was worth it to avoid the risk of running into the pyro accidentally. The place was mostly decorated in the dark woods and bright colors that Lily preferred. Gajeel didn't much care, he was rarely home and if he was it was only to sleep.

The bedroom was Gajeel's sanctuary and where he headed first on walking in the door. The walls were a muted silver color. The furniture was the same heavy dark wood as the rest of the home but Gajeel had added his own touches of iron work. There wasn't a thing in the room that didn't have a touch of iron on it somewhere and the metal scent filled the air. Even the bed had a large iron sculpture on the wall behind it of a dragon. Gajeel had spent days working on it, trying his best to make it appear as his father had. The bed was piled high with pillows and overly fluffy blankets. Nesting, it was a thing.

Sting had said it was about a week before he gave into his dragon urges and laid his mark on Rogue. Gajeel figured that just meant he had to avoid Levy for a least that long. If he was lucky his magic would get it's butt in gear and drop the whole issue. It had already been four-day, four horrific day, but he would tough it out. If he was exceedingly lucky the guild would forget all about everything Jet and Levy told them by the time he reemerged and he could move on with his life like nothing had happened.

Two weeks, two weeks of the worst hell Gajeel had ever been through. If it wasn't for Lily he probably wouldn't have made it past the third day. Every part of his being craved to be with Levy. His every thought was filled with her, he dreamed of hunting her down and placing his mark. Hunting her down, tracking her, it appealed to his dragon side almost as strongly as the thought of claiming her did. Lily had to stop him nearly every other day from leaving to find her. He was an asshole, aggressive, accused Lily more than once of stealing Levy from him. He wasn't himself at all. If he wasn't obsessing over Levy he was convinced that Jet was the one keeping her from him, that Jet had to be dealt with.

Lily had to get him black out drunk more than once to deal with him. Gajeel really owed the Exceed a lot. He wasn't sure how he would make things up to his friend but he knew he would find a way, somehow. Thankfully, sixteen long days after his fight with Jet, it seemed the mating urge was gone.

Okay, gone was a strong word. Gajeel still missed Levy, there was an ache in his chest when he thought about her. It didn't feel any different than it had before their last job though. He was more aware of it, more aware of how he felt, but he didn't think this had anything to do with mating and was just caused by his own feelings. He missed Levy. He missed her scent and her laugh. He missed watching her chew on her light pen while reading a good book. He missed the way her eyes lit up when she smiled. He could admit all of that to himself now but, like hell he was going to admit it to anyone besides Lily.

Gajeel decided he was going to have to face the music and go to the guildhall at some point. If for no other reason than the fact he was never paid for helping save the archeologists and had a mortgage that needed to be paid. Luckily no one even seemed to notice when he walked in. He headed right over to the request board and started looking for a job.

"It's about time you showed up." Mira appeared out of thin air at Gajeel's side. He nearly jumped ten feet in the air, his nerves a little on edge at the moment.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, Devil Women!" Gajeel shouted at her.

Mira gave an overly cute giggle as she patted his shoulder. "I didn't mean to scare you. The master has been looking for you. He said he needs to talk to you as soon as you got back."

Gajeel and Lily exchanged worried looks. They had both hoped that maybe, just this once, the masters relaxed and forgiving nature would work in their benefit. Gajeel was never that lucky.

"Has Levy been by recently?" Lily asked conversationally.

"Yeah, Shadowgear has already left on another job. She told us all about what happened. It's really cute, I didn't know you were so soft." Mira said, giving Gajeel a knowing smile. "She did leave your bags with me, I'll give them to you after you talk with the Master."

"I ain't cute. Or soft." Gajeel grumbled at her. All he earned was another of her giggles in return. He didn't see Makarov at his normal spot at the bar so he figured the man must be in his office working on paper work for once. That was fine for Gajeel, he didn't need an audience to his excommunication.

He followed Lily upstairs and to the masters office. The door was shut so he knocked, getting a muttered "Come in" before he opened the door and walked in. There was a large desk in the center of the room with piles of papers on it. More papers littered the floor around the room. Everything from job request to damage reports, reimbursement requests, even a summons from the magic counsel. Gajeel was a little impressed that anything seemed to get done around here with this mess.

Makarov was standing on his desk, looking worriedly over some papers when Gajeel walked in. He looked up and gave a clearly forced smile when he saw them. "Gajeel, good, come in and sit down my boy."

Lily and Gajeel shared another look, this time of confusion as they sat in the chairs across from the desk. Makarov didn't seem angry or disappointed in him. If anything the old man looked a little relieved to see Gajeel.

"You wanted to speak to us?" Lily asked.

"Yes. I'm glad to see you have made it back to Magnolia safely." Makarov walked to the edge of his desk and sat there with his feet dangling over the edge. "I'm afraid I have some bad news. Understand, this isn't something I ever wanted for you, Gajeel."

Gajeel huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Just get it over with, old man. I can handle it."

"I need you help with Ivan." Makarov told him. Both Gajeel and Lily's jaws dropped in surprise. This was not what they had expected. Makarov misinterpreted the reason for their stun silence and continued to explain. "Lately some of our members have been injured while working distant jobs. In the past week two have failed to return. Warren and Laki are both overdue to return. Normally I wouldn't worry so but with the recent attacks …"

"You think Raven Tail is involved?" Gajeel said. Being a onetime spy against Raven Tail it made sense that Makarov would come to him again to gather intelligence on his son.

"I thought they were ordered to disband after what happened during the games." Lily pointed out.

Gajeel gave a fake chuckle. "They were a dark guild long before the games. They only became official to ruffle a few Fairy wings and get information. They only half way succeeded. No, this stinks of Raven Tail."

"I can't go after Ivan myself but I cannot let attacks on my children go unanswered." Makarov said, looking at Gajeel.

"Yeah, yeah, I got you. Need me to go in all stealthy like and remind him why he shouldn't mess with Fairy Tail. I know a couple places he might be hiding. Shouldn't take me to long, might even be fun." Gajeel got up and cracked his knuckles before heading to the door.

"Gajeel," Makarov called after him. "Don't forget …"

"If I get caught, you knew nothing about this. Yeah, I know." Gajeel waved over his shoulder as he walked out of the office, Lily scrambled to catch up. Fairy Tail like to act like they were some holier than thou guild but Gajeel knew the truth. They had their dark secrets and Makarov had no qualms about using Gajeel as his personal attack dog to keep those secrets. They weren't much different than Phantom Lord in that regard.

Gajeel went right over to the bar to collect his and Lily's bags from Mira. He was itching for a fight and eager to get started tracking Raven Tail down. He didn't particularly like Warren, man was annoying on the best of day, and Laki talked weird, but he wasn't so cold hearted to leave them at the mercy of Ivan. Man was twisted enough to want his own son dead, no telling what he would do to them.

"Mira, what did Levy tell you happened on our last job?" Gajeel asked, reaching behind the bar to grab their bags and the bag of scrap iron she kept there for him. He had hardly eaten in the last two weeks and was starving.

"Oh, just about how you heard about a dragon sighting and rushed off to see if it was Metalicana. She said you were so excited you left without your things." Mira smiled at him as he shoved a handful of scraps into his mouth to keep from shouting at her, again. "You try to play the tough guy but you really care about your dragon just as much as Natsu."

"The only thing I care about is beating his ass for disappearing on me." Gajeel argued.

Mira giggled at him again. "You wouldn't be angry if you didn't care about him."

Gajeel just grumbled and turned to leave. Lily floated over the top of the bar. "We are going to be leaving town for a little while, Mira, would you mind …"

"Packing you some kiwi's to go?" She asked, pulling a prepared bag out from under the bar. "Master already told me. There's also a new hand-held communication lacrima in here. Master wants you to stay in touch."

Lily took the bag before bowing his head to her. "Thank you, Mira."

"Come on, Lily! We don't have all day!" Gajeel shouted from where he was waiting by the guildhall doors. Lily quickly thanked Mira again before rushing off to join Gajeel.

-0-

Team Shadowgear spent a week at the Dragonoph temple before they returned to Magnolia. In truth Levy would have been happy to stay even longer but Droy had to point out the Gajeel had not returned for his things and they needed to get a paying job. Sometimes Levy could get a little absorbed into her work and forget about things like that. But how often did one get a chance to learn about an extinct culture and species like this.

Once Jet had made it clear that Levy was his girl working with Luke and Dominic had become easier. Levy didn't necessarily like the fact that Jet was laying claim to her like you would a sandwich, but at least the two men had stopped hitting on her. They were now the perfect assistance to her and Adare. Adare working on cataloging the artifacts with Luke while Dominic and Levy worked on the piles of text.

Dominic preferred to copy the text into his archive where he could work on it without having to worry about damaging the original pieces. Levy could admit his approach had its merits but she preferred to have the real thing in front of her, feel the history in her hands. Also, if she worked with the archive it ment she had to be close to Dom which then ment that Jet was hovering around and being all types of annoying.

Jet was Levy's best friend and she told herself she had to give time for them to adjust to this new relationship, but that didn't mean she couldn't be annoyed by him. He wasn't doing anything overly crazy and Levy knew she was being irrational, but she really just needed some damn space. This wasn't the first time they had stayed on site to help with translations and normally Jet and Droy would run things at camp and basically make sure everyone remembered about basic human needs like food and bathing. Droy was a wonderful camp helper. Jet, on the other hand, seemed to have fully focused on caring for Levy and no one else.

Jet would bring her food and water at different points during the day. This would normally be sweet if he hadn't nearly ruined a very important an old tome Levy had been working on when he spilled the water he brought her. From what she could tell it was the oldest surviving piece of writing in the temple, over four hundred and fifty years old, and he had been inches away from destroying it. Than the food he would bring was probably the least practical things one could think of, forcing Levy to stop her work and eat just so he would leave her alone. Jet tried to argue that she could work and eat at the same time, but one did _not_ eat a sandwich and handle four-hundred-year-old parchment at the same time. She almost strangled him for making the suggestion. The only thing that saved him was the bruises still visible on his neck.

Part of Levy wondered if she was just pity dating Jet. She just had to remind herself it wasn't pity, she really truly did like Jet, really, truly. Another part accused her of doing it just to make Gajeel jealous. That was a cray idea, of course … Gajeel was already jealous. This really just wasn't the best situation for judging how a relationship would work, she reminded herself. They would know more once they were back to Magnolia.

Leaving for Magnolia had been difficult. Levy was close to a breakthrough on something important, she was sure of it. The Dragonoph people had this image of dragons as stupid, violent, evil creatures. Levy knew that wasn't completely true basic on what Natsu and Wendy said about their parent dragons. She had seen the cruel, violent side of dragons but from what she figured they were as different as humans. Some good, some evil, most somewhere in the middle. But, because the Dragonoph didn't see them as more than animals Levy felt they were missing a huge part of dragon social structures. They had years and years of detailed information on the movement of hundreds of dragons and Levy was just starting to connect them together. There was something there, she knew it.

Her work had fully driven Gajeel from her thoughts … mostly driven Gajeel from her thoughts. The marks on Jet's neck had fully faded by the time they headed home. Jet had wanted to tell Makarov what happened, only Levy begging him not to had stopped him. She could tell he didn't like that she was protecting Gajeel, but then again they both knew Levy had feeling for Gajeel just as she did for Jet. This caused a certain amount of tension on their return to Magnolia, luckily it appeared that Gajeel and Lily had yet to return, no one had seen them anyways.

They waiting around Magnolia for three days for Gajeel to return. In that time Levy was still obsessing over her note, trying to understand what she believed to be a complicated social structure of dragons. The whole guild had been floored the first time Jet brought her a plate of food and kissed her cheek. She was immediately pulled away from her work by Cana and Lucy who demanded she answer their questions.

"When did this happen?" Lucy asked.

"How could you not tell us?" Cana added.

"What about Gajeel?"

"Have you had sex yet?"

"How is Droy handling this?"

"Is he good in bed? I think he would be."

Levy's head was spinning at the onslaught of questions. Her face was burning red at Cana's questions and Lucy's questions were like a sucker punch to that ball of guilt she carried with her.

"To answer your questions, Lu-Lu, we have kind of been dancing around this since we got back. It only became official on this last job. Droy is supportive and happy for us. And what about Gajeel?" Levy couldn't even look her friends in the eyes as she tried to deflect the Gajeel question.

"What do you mean, 'what about Gajeel?' I know you're crazy for him, Levy. You don't hide it well." Levy couldn't even deny Lucy's accusation as her face became even hotter.

"Jet's hot an all Levy, but we know you really want some iron in your diet. Please tell me you at least go to sample some of that before hooking tall, flirty and fast over there." Cana said, openly looking around Levy to check out Jet.

"Cana!" Levy shouted as she cover her face. She didn't think she could be more embarrassed.

"Poor Gajeel must be heartbroken. To ashamed to show his face around the guild. That's why he ditched you during the job, isn't it?" Mira had decided to come over and add to Levy's humiliation and guilt.

"No …" She said in a small voice, of course a small part of Levy thought that was exactly what happened but she wasn't going to go into the detail on that.

"Hey, this means Gajeel's fair game again, right? I totally need to get me some." Cana said.

"No!" Levy protested and immediately covered her face at the knowing looks all three girls were giving her. This was arguably the worst day of her life and she's had quite a few bad ones lately.

"And for your information, Gajeel is chasing down a lead on Metalicana." Levy lied. She looked up and saw Droy holding up a job request flyer behind the interrogation squad. Levy could kiss him. "I'm sorry, but it looks like Droy found a job for us."

"This isn't over, girly!" Cana shouted at her back as Levy pushed her way past the girls and over to Droy and Jet. She had never been so relieved to be leaving on a job.

-0-

After three days of chasing down dead ends, Gajeel was frustrated with himself. Not only was he working with seven-year-old intel, it was intel the enemy knew he had. Next time he saw Laxus he needed to kick Sparky's ass for blowing his cover. Last time he ever put his tail on the line to save the ungrateful prick.

He had already been to five former Raven Tail hideouts near Magnolia. The operative word was former. They had been cleared out long ago. Looked like they had been abandoned for years, probably shortly after Gajeel had gone missing. It was what he would do if his spy suddenly disappeared with the top members of the guild he was spying on. Ok, maybe his cover was blown before Laxus opened his big mouth.

Gajeel was currently at the base of Mount Hakobe about to chase down his most promising lead. He had heard about some members of Raven Tail wanting to set up a lookout in the mountains when he had first started spying for Makarov. There had never been talk about a set location, just a newly forming idea at the time, but that just meant it was a location Gajeel was not supposed to have any information about. That meant it might still exist. It help support this idea was the fact Nullpudding had been spotted several times in the small town at the base of the mountain. The purple, toll looking man did not get misidentified often.

"Look, it's going to take a few days to chase this lead down. I'll contact you when I know something." Gajeel grumbled into the hand-held communication lacrima. Master Makarov was growing increasingly worried about the missing guild members. The fact that Laxus was heading home from his most recent S-Class job wasn't helping.

"Ivan is being too quiet. I don't trust him." Makarov told him.

"Ivan isn't stupid. He won't move until he has all the pieces he wants in place. He is still after Laxus. Keep Sparky safe at home until I'm finished. I'll get a hold of you by the end of the week." Gajeel repeated this for at least the fifth time during this conversation. He knew Makarov wanted to do an all-out attack on Raven Tail. Not only would that be a stupid move, no one knew where they were headquartered anymore. Gajeel didn't wait for Makarov to respond before he ended the call and chucked the lacrima into a nearby trash can.

"Are you sure that was wise?" Lily asked, looking at the trash can but making no more to retrieve the lacrima.

"I can't get anything done with the old man looking over my shoulder." Gajeel said. Besides, if he did manage to find a member of Raven Tail he would need to use … creative techniques to get information out of them. They were all terrified of Ivan, Gajeel would have to be more terrifying. He didn't need to have Makarov implicated as an accomplice. That would not end well for Fairy Tail.

Gajeel and Lily spent four days wondering around the mountains. Gajeel found a trail on the second day that had a lot of recent activity and they had been following the thing around in circles since. He had got faint scent trails every now and then that he would recognize as Raven Tail members he had meet at one point or another that gave him hope they were heading the right way.

The sun was starting to set on the fourth day and the two were cold and tired. It was another day of walking in circles in the cold. Only after they had pasted the same cliff face, twice, did Gajeel agree to call it a night and try fresh in the morning. Gajeel hated not being able to track down a target and the cold mountain air only made it harder. The wind blew in all directions and with it came scents from people and animals from miles around. It was confusing him and making his nose unreliable.

Gajeel must have let his guard drop to much in his frustrated exhaustion. It was the only excuse he had for why he didn't know about the enemy until after they were already surrounded. Two dozen mages came out of the trees as he and Lily were setting up camp.

One got a cheap hit on Lily before either man could react, throwing him back into a snow bank. Gajeel knocked that man out with an Iron Hammer. Lily reappeared from the snow in his battle form, sword ready to go. Gajeel and Lily were a forced to be reckoned with, unfortunately Ivan knew Gajeel's magic well. There was at least three lightning mages in the group. Gajeel could ground himself but each blast still took a lot out of him and hurt like hell. By the time they were down to a handful of mages, Gajeel and Lily were mostly spent.

"Poison Dragon Roar!" Gajeel heard the shout but when he turned to face the new threat he was hit by a wave of red poison gas. Gajeel collapsed to the ground, he could hear Lily fall victim to the attack as well.

"I told you not to kill him! I want the Iron Slayer alive!" A harsh female voice snapped.

"I just paralyzed them. You'll be able to have all your fun still." It was the same man that had attacked them that spoke. There was a note of disgust in his voice. Gajeel tried to move and found the man's words were true, he was completely paralyzed.

"Time to go to sleep." The man said seconds before a boot impacted with Gajeel's skull, knocking him unconscious.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This is your one and only warning for the rest of this story. Things are going to get dark. There will be just about every trigger under the sun. Torture, both physical and emotional. Death of characters and children/babies. PTSD. Rape. Child abuse. ECT.  
I don't always write happy stories. This will come around to a happy ending, I promise, but it is going to be a very rough road for Gajeel getting there.**

When Gajeel came to, he was laying on something hard and cold. At first he thought he was still on the snow-covered ground, but the air around him was too warm for him to be outside. He tried to remain relaxed with his eyes closed as he assessed his surroundings.

The room smelled damp. He could smell Panther Lily and knew he was close by. There was the scent of iron in the room and it made his stomach cramp in hunger. _How long have I been out?_ He wondered.

"Almost a full day. About time you came around. Mistress was starting to get impatient." It was the voice of the man who had paralyzed him, the poison Dragon-Slayer.

Gajeel didn't realize he had spoken out loud, but seeing his cover was blown he opened his eyes and looked around. He was laying on a metal table, steel, held down by his wrist and ankles with Sealstone restraints. That would explain why he couldn't access his magic and just shadow himself away. The rest of the room that he could see was just bare, dark walls. Speaking of bare, Gajeel was bare ass naked.

"I don't know what kind of kinky stuff you're into, but this really isn't my thing." Gajeel said, finally looking at the only other person he could see in the room.

The poison Dragon-Slayer was a dark tanned man with spiky maroon hair. He had a scar over his right eye that was permanently shut. There was another scar on his neck that Gajeel couldn't make out. His ears were pointed, as were his canines, which showed as he laughed. "I think I'm going to like you."

"I'm more entertaining when I'm not tied down." Gajeel pointed out.

"Yeah, I got to see just how entertaining. Unfortunately me and the Mistress have some questions for you." Gajeel noticed the man glance nervously at the door.

"Where's Lily?" Gajeel asked, worried about his little friend.

"The cat? Up there." The man said, pointing to the celling. Gajeel had to crane his neck to look at the celling behind him, he was just able to make out the bottom of what looked like an iron bird cage. "I wanted to just kill him but Mistress thought he would be better as a hostage. Assure your cooperation."

Gajeel couldn't suppress his growl. _I'm so kicking your ass when I'm out of here. I swear it._

The man by the door chuckled. His laughter died quickly a moment before the only door to the room opened. Gajeel's jaw dropped as a woman walked in, the last women he ever expected to see here. _Levy?!_

Levy walked into the room and the man guarding the door took a respectful, or maybe fearful, step back. Levy had cut her hair into the short, wild, choppy layers he had liked when they first meet. She wasn't wearing her normal boxy orange dress and headband, instead she was hardly dressed at all. She was wearing a sheer bikini top that even Cana wouldn't be caught dead in. Her floor length skirt was the same sheer material with a slit up one side to her mid-thigh. He could see right through the material and knew she wore nothing underneath.

Her scent flowed into the room, quickly filling the small space. The musky scent of old book, fresh cut jasmine, a hint of lavender and iron. Fuck him, she was wearing iron. His eyes zoned in on a chain around her neck that dipped between her breast, an iron chain.

He closed his eyes and lulled his head back with a groan, hitting it on the table with a thud. He couldn't control his body's reaction to Levy's presence, he couldn't even try. The combination of her dress, scent, iron and residual mating instinct was all more then he had any hope of fighting. He mentally cursed his own weakness and the fact he couldn't cover himself. _Could this get any worse?_

Gajeel's eyes shot open when he felt a finger run up the underside on his erection. Levy was leaning over the table in between his legs. She seemed to be closely examining him. He cursed as she stroked him again, her finger circling around his piercing.

"Fuck, you would think you've never seen a naked man before." He hissed out through clenched teeth.

"I've never seen one of these before." Levy said, her finger circling the piercing again. Her voice had a silken quality to it that sounded foreign to Gajeel's ears. The change was a little unnerving but he felt his body relaxing at the same time.

"You can explore all ya want when we get back to Magnolia." Gajeel pulled at the restraints on his wrists. "Want to get me out of here, Shrimp?"

The man next to the door chuckled. Gajeel shot his eyes over to him a second before burning pain cut through his calf. He screamed and attempted to jerk away from whatever had cut him but the restraints just dug into his wrists and ankles.

"Don't call me that ever again!" Levy snapped at him. Gajeel could feel the warm blood that was oozing out of the cut she had given him. It pooled under his leg, making the table slick.

Gajeel growled at her and tried again to pull away. "What the hell! Crazy bitch."

"Oh you have no idea." The poison slayer muttered to himself.

"You made me that way, Gajeel. This is all your doing." Levy hissed at him. She moved so she was straddling his hips, hands on his chest. "You abandoned me. Left me when I needed you."

"I'm sorry, I was kind of dealing with my own stuff at the time." Gajeel told her. "I thought you would be fine."

"I wouldn't have said that." The ever-helpful spectator commented.

"Fine! Fine!" Levy snapped. She drew her arm back like she was going to slap him but she stopped herself, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "This isn't about that." She said, her eyes still closed as she reigned in her temper.

"Then what the hell is going on? Right now it looks like you're working with Raven Tail." Gajeel said, trying to ignore the fact her butt was rubbing against his nearly painful erection. _Is she moving like that on purpose?_

Levy leaned down to whisper in Gajeel's ear. "That's because I am. You are going to pay for everything you've done to me … Kurogane. But first, I'm going to have my fun with you."

Gajeel opened his mouth to respond but all that came out was a line of curses as Levy impaled herself on him. The sudden move banished the last bit of rational thought from Gajeel's mind. All that was left was thoughts of Levy and the pleasure that came with her. Months of celibacy and weeks of denying his mating instinct added up to a poor and quick performance on his part. Levy had barely found a rhythm when Gajeel came with an animalistic roar. He lunged forward, intent on sinking his fangs into Levy. Placing his mark. Claiming his mate.

The restraints held him back and dug deep into his skin. The pain was enough to break through the haze of Gajeel's mind. He felt the cuts in his skin, the blood running down his arms, and Levy. She was still on top of him, still riding him. Her hands were on his chest, supporting her well outside his reach. Her eyes were closed with a look of pure bliss on her face. When Gajeel met her next downward movement her head flew back with a cry of pleasure, her fingers curled and nails dug into his skin.

Each of Gajeel's thrust caused the cuffs around his ankles to dig in but he didn't care. Watching the faces Levy made, hearing the moans and cries of pleasure, feeling her heat wrapped around him, it was everything he dreamed it would be. The situation wasn't ideal but it faded to the back of his mind. The only thing that mattered at the moment was Levy.

Gajeel had two more orgasms, each with the same violent reaction, before Levy finally found her own release. Even after his three orgasms Gajeel still wanted more. Levy was still on top of him, rocking her hips slowly, teasing him. Gajeel thrusted up as hard as he could manage, trying to encourage her to continue moving.

"Please …" Gajeel's voice sounded rough, his throat sore, as he pleaded. He had been unaware of how loud he had been, the inhuman noises he had been making, or the damage it had done to his voice.

Levy grabbed a fist full of his hair and pulled his head at an uncomfortable angle. She leaned forward so she could whisper in his ear. "Why so eager? Is it because you chose a mate but failed to claim them?"

Gajeel couldn't form words to answer. The scent of Levy and iron so close made it nearly impossible for him to think. All he could do is whimper and move his hips.

"Don't worry, we will have more fun later." Levy whispered, running her tongue around his ear before sitting back. "For now, I'm bored of you. Cobra!"

Gajeel watched as Levy climbed off of him. He twisted his body in an attempt to follow her. He watched as the man by the door, Cobra, approached the them. There was a noticeable bulge in his pants as he had apparently been watching them.

"Yes, Mistress?" Cobra asked, annoyance and frustration clear in his tone.

Gajeel snarled and tried lunging off the table as Levy reached out to stroke Cobra and undo his pants. "Make Kurogane watch." She purred.

Cobra rolled his eye before he turned Levy and bent her over the table Gajeel was on, laying her across his stomach. Gajeel was helpless to stop anything that happened next.

He fought against his restraints, fought to get to Cobra, to stop him. He felt his dragon overwhelm him and knew if it wasn't for the magic canceling cuffs he would enter dragon force for the first time. Every part of his being was forced on killing the man who was fucking _his_ mate. The man causing her to claw and bite at his flesh as she screamed in pleasure.

Gajeel wasn't sure how long this went on. Time had no meaning. He pleaded with them, begged them to stop, offered himself to Levy, anything he could think of. He threw himself at Cobra, pulled against his cuffs, broke bones trying to get free, trying to stop them.

Gajeel didn't stop his fight until Cobra moved away for a sedated Levy. He couldn't look at Levy, laying across him, panting and trembling from what Cobra had given her. Something Gajeel had been unable too.

His heart was beyond shattered. The reality of everything that had happened was just starting to sink into his mind. Levy had betrayed him, used him, fucked another man in front of him. His body was numb and refused to watch as Levy got up and walked across the room.

"See he is cleaned up before questioning. You know I hate getting blood on my clothes." Levy's words only added to the feeling of dread in Gajeel.

Cobra gave a short answer, "Yes, Mistress."

Gajeel heard the door open and close, followed by unintelligible muttering from Cobra before he left as well. Satisfied he was alone, Gajeel let down the last crumbling wall of protection he had and let himself cry.

Years Jose had abused him, tried to break him. He had been captured and tortured more times than he would ever admit too. He had lost his birth family, adopted father, his guild, everything he ever cared for at one point or another in his life. This was the first time he had been utterly defeated. The first time he let himself openly cry. For the first time in his life he would rather be dead than face another second of the situation he was in. All of this was caused by, not a gigantic monster or demon, but a single blue haired shrimp.

His body was cold, numb. His heart didn't so much ache as it felt like an empty chasm. There was nothing he could do but lay there and wait for whatever came next.

"Gajeel?" The quiet uncertain voice startled him.

"Lily? Is that you?" Gajeel asked. Having recognized he voice. He had forgotten that his friend was even there.

"It's me. Are you all right?"

"Don't worry about me. Did they hurt you?" Gajeel asked, shaking off his friends worries.

"No, but I am in magic canceling cuffs. There also appears to be a barrier keeping me from leaving this cage." Lily told him, giving a quick run down of the situation. Gajeel could hear the exceed walking around in the cage, causing it to swing and creek slightly.

"I'll figure something out. Don't worry." Gajeel tried to sound confident, something he didn't feel at all. Lily didn't answer him and there was a minute of awkward silence between them. "How long have you been awake?"

Lily didn't answer right away. He wanted to lie, save his friend some embarrassment, but that wasn't who he was. "I woke up when the women entered the room."

The shame Gajeel felt was suffocating. Lily had seen everything. The stench of sex was so thick in the air it wouldn't have been hard of the exceed to figure out but that he had seen it, heard Gajeel pleading. It was something he wanted no one to know about, especially the only person he truly considered a friend.

Before Gajeel could think of a way to respond, to explain himself, the door opened again. Gajeel turned to look at who entered, who was there to torture him now. He was surprised to see a kid walk in.

It was a boy, maybe nine or ten years old. He had mid-length blond hair with blue tips and purple eyes. It was a strange combination that made him look more feminine than masculine. He was wearing only a pair of torn jeans and carrying a bucket of water. The Raven Tail guild mark was in black on his left shoulder.

The boy covered his noise as he walked over to Gajeel. "Man, you reek. No wonder Cobra didn't want anything to do with you."

Gajeel didn't say anything in response, just turned his head to look at the ceiling. The boy didn't seem to care and he threw the bucket of water on Gajeel. It was ice cold and Gajeel tensed on instinct which pulled at his cuffs and sent pain shooting through his body. He couldn't hold back the scream of pain.

"Try not to move to much. You're just going to make the bleeding worse." The kid chastised him. "At least let me get you cleaned up first."

Gajeel watched as the kid pulled out some towels and started scrubbing Gajeel down. He was surprisingly gentle especially around Gajeel's injuries. After he was done he wrapped some cloth around Gajeel's wrists and ankles.

"That won't stop all the damage you are doing but it will stop you from cutting down to the bone." He explained as he worked. "You if would only cooperate this wouldn't be necessary."

"Do you have any idea who I am?" Gajeel asked. He tested the wrappings. His broken wrists still hurt but it did help.

"Kurogane, Black Steel Gajeel, Iron Dragon Slayer, traitor, you are known by a lot of names around here." The boy shrugged and dug into his pockets.

"You think I'm the type to cooperate?" Gajeel asked.

"I think you are the type who will do whatever it takes to save his own ass." The boys held his fist out over Gajeel's mouth. "Open up."

Gajeel narrowed his eyes at the kid. He could smell iron coming from the kids hand but it had a strange smell to it. He wasn't about to trust the enemy. The boy waited a full minute before he sighed and took his hand back.

"Go ahead and stave than." He gathered his things and started to head for the door.

"Wait, kid!" Gajeel called after him. The boy put his bucket down and turned back to Gajeel. "What is your name?"

"They call me Sangre. I'll see you soon, Traitor." With that, the boy left.

"I didn't know Raven Tail had children in the guild." Lily said once the kid left.

"Yeah, they are just full of surprises today."

Gajeel didn't know how long he waited in near complete silence. It could have been hours or minutes. He could hear Lily moving around his cage, most likely looking for a way out. Gajeel knew it would be pointless. Levy was second only to Freed in her enchantments. Even if Lily got free of the sealstone he wouldn't get free of the cage. There was nothing for Gajeel to do but wait for Levy to return.

When Levy did return it was alone. She had changed her clothes; it was the same style but now in a pink tint. Her scent followed her into the room causing a now predictable reaction in Gajeel. Levy came over and examined the bandaging Sangre had left.

"Boy is getting a little soft. I'm going to need to fix that." There was a heavy tone of disgust in her voice.

"Please don't …" Gajeel looked into her eyes to plead for the boys safety but what he saw there stopped him short. He was staring into deep purple eyes the color of amethyst. This wasn't Levy and the realization hit him like a rampaging Vulcan.

"Don't what?" Not Levy asked in a sweet tone.

"You're not her …" Gajeel whispered to himself.

"Not who? Are you saying you don't even remember me?" There was a momentary look of anger on not Levy's face before it turned into a smile. "I could help you remember."

Gajeel closed his eyes, his body tensing as he felt her fingertips run down his chest and abdomen, heading for his erection.

"Why do you smell like her?" Even as he asked the question, Gajeel knew it wasn't really the case. He had ignored it earlier, the shock of seeing Levy and being held hostage made it seem like a small thing, but she didn't smell exactly like Levy. There was a hint of lavender that was not part of Levy's normal scent. At first he thought it could be something she was wearing but now that he focused he could tell it was part of this person's scent.

"Smell like who? You're mate I'm guessing. Does it bother you? Make you uncomfortable? You didn't seem to mind earlier." Not Levy placed kisses along Gajeel's jaw as her hand wrapped around him and stroked slowly.

Gajeel hissed and clenched his teeth shut. His body arched into her touch, there wasn't anything he could do to prevent it.

"You don't seem to mind now either." There was humor in her voice. "I feel sorry for your mate. Stuck with someone so easily swayed with some basic pheromones."

"Please …" He was cut off when she bit his neck.

"I mean, I wasn't planning this when I walked in, but if you insist." Gajeel didn't even get a chance to argue as the women climbed onto the table and straddled his lap once again. The scent of her arousal made his head spin.

"I don't want this. I don't want you!" Gajeel snapped at her as he fought to get away.

"Oh? Well this says otherwise." Not Levy reached behind her to grab ahold of Gajeel's erection once again. The man froze for a split second but it was all the time she needed to get him inside her.

This time was much different then the first. Gajeel shut down. It took all his self-control to keep his body from participating. Even so, the movement, sensations, the scent of arousal mixed with Levy, he ended up reaching his climax against his own wishes. He once again tried to place his mark even knowing it wasn't Levy.

Gajeel wished it was only the once that this happened. He felt worse than before, empty, used, like filth, guilty. It wasn't only the one time, though. Not Levy wouldn't stop until she was sedated. She rode him through a half dozen of her own orgasms and nearly as many of his. In between he would lay there, refusing to participate but with every climax, like each time before, he tried to place his mark, each time more violently than the last.

When she was finished with him the women curled up into Gajeel's side, like they were lovers. Gajeel tried to move away from her and when he did he saw something white laying between them. He had almost forgotten about the iron chain not Levy was wearing. It had fallen out of her top and her could see now at the end of the chain was the tip of a dragons fang.

"Bones?" He felt like he had been sucker punched. This was a grown-up Bones. Someone from his past he had completely forgotten about. Someone he wasn't even sure was real until this moment. It made sense now, all the pieces started to come together. Female dragons used pheromones to attract males during breeding season, was it possible female dragon slayers could as well?

"So you do remember me?" Bones got up and off the table, fixing her necklace as she did.

"Why are you doing this?" Gajeel asked.

Burning pain cut across Gajeel's chest. He hadn't even seen Bones move but there was a long cut across his chest that had blood starting to bubble up from it. Bones was standing next to him licking blood from her fingernail. Her nails were now razor-sharp claws made out of bone.

"I'll be asking the questions. You better give me answers I like." She warned.

"Yeah, that's not likely to happen, sweetheart" Gajeel couldn't help his smart mouth and paid for it with another slash across his chest.

"Where is Laxus currently?" Bones asked. She had taken on a harder, more serious tone then Gajeel had heard yet.

"Tell me where we are and I'll draw you a map." Gajeel hissed as the next cut bisected the first two. They were all shallow cuts, only just breaking the skin enough to slowly bleed.

"Where is Laxus?" She asked again.

"Somewhere inside the boarders of Fiore." Another cut, deeper this time.

"Where is Laxus?"

"Tell Ivan he needs therapy, this obsession is unhealthy."

This went on for several minutes until Gajeel could barely breathe due to the pain. Each breath caused burning stinging pain to erupt over his skin. He had dozens of crisscrossing marks on his chest and abdomen.

"Where is Laxus?" Bones repeated the question in the same calm voice each time.

"I don't fucking know! He's on a job somewhere! The old man wants to keep him far from home!" Gajeel finally snapped. He didn't even have the information she wanted.

Bones gave him a soft smile. Her hand had been in position to give him another cut to the stomach but she moved it down now to stroke his manhood. A fresh dose of pheromones had Gajeel cursing as he grew hard in her hand.

"Was that so hard? See good boys get rewarded." She purred as she stoked him slowly.

"I would rather you kill me." Gajeel said through clenched teeth.

"Who is your mate?" Bones asked, she held the tip of one claw to the base of his penis to assure cooperation.

"Levy" Gajeel said quickly, trying to moved away from the clawed threat.

"Just imagine I'm Levy. It will make this much more enjoyable for both of us." She returned to her slow teasing.

"Fuck," Gajeel groaned as she cupped his balls.

"Only if you're good." Bones teased. "What type of magic does Levy use?"

"Animal takeover" Gajeel lied. He felt a sharp cut to the inside of his leg.

"What type of magic does Levy use?" Bones asked again. Gajeel could smell her arousal growing, she was getting off on this.

"Solid Script!" He spat at her. He was "rewarded" by her returning to her fondling.

"Does she have a team she works with?"

"Yes, Jet and Droy." Gajeel said, earning him a grin from Bones.

"Volunteering information already. You are a quick learner." She removed her skirt before she climbed back into his lap. She wasn't a fan of this position but if he continued to behave they might be able to explore things with him a little less restrained. She took enjoyment on the guilty look on his face as she lowered herself onto him once again.

"Are you going to tell me what magic they have?" Bones used her muscles to massage Gajeel while inside her all without having to move her body.

"Speed and Green. Both are weak, hardly a threat." He gasped out. The offer of extra information again netted a larger reward as Bones started riding him.

"Who are the major threats?"

"Mira, Laxus, Erza." He listed them off quickly.

"Not Natsu, Juvia or any of the others from the Games?" Bones slowed her movements as she waited for an answer.

"Natsu is an idiot. Juvia is a lovesick weakling, you threaten Gray and she will do anything you say and vice versa. Wendy is a child. Elfman is a joke. Mystogan wasn't even a member of Fairy Tail." Gajeel's dislike for his guild mates showed in his voice.

Bones purred in approval. "I think you've earned your reward."

-0-

"Why did you tell her all of that?" Bones had just walked out the door and Lily was already criticizing him. Gajeel was to weak to deal with this.

"If you didn't notice, I was being cut up like a human steak." Gajeel snapped.

"So you turn on the guild that quickly?" Lily asked. Gajeel could picture the disappointed look on his face as she stood with his arms crossed.

"Of course not. I didn't tell her anything she didn't already know." Ivan wasn't stupid. He knew who was in the guild and what their abilities were. This round was just about teaching Gajeel the rules and seeing how willing he was to play along. The more information he gave that they already knew, the more they would believe any lies he told them later.

"I don't think you are thinking clearly." Lily said.

"You think I like what she's doing to me?!" There was a long silence that followed. A part of Lily was questioning, wondering if maybe Gajeel did enjoy it. Gajeel couldn't really blame him. From where Lily was it looked as if Gajeel was willingly participating, he didn't know about the pheromones or how disgusting Gajeel felt after every orgasm.

"I know you don't want to be here. Let's work on finding a way out." Lily finally said, avoiding truly answering the question.

They didn't get much time to talk before Sangre returned to the room. He again had his bucket of water and started to wash the blood of Gajeel.

"Not one to cooperate, huh?" Sangre chuckled as he cleaned the mix of fluids off Gajeel's legs. "She'll get you like she gets every Dragon Slayer."

"Is that why you're here?" Gajeel asked. He was picking up a faint scent from the kid. He couldn't be sure but it interested his dragon and if the kid was trying to hide his scent there must be a reason.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm here for my own reasons." Sangre was a little rougher after that with cleaning Gajeel's wounds. It stung and caused some to bleed anew.

"Now look what you did!" Sangre sounded exacerbated as he threw his towel in the bucket.

"You're the one rubbing my skin raw!" Gajeel shot back.

"Why are you here, Sangre?" Lily asked, making his presence known to someone other than Gajeel for the first time.

"I'm here cause Mistress takes care of me. The guild is the only family I got." Sangre answered, going back to his work but more gently this time.

"What happened to your family?" Lily asked.

Sangre shrugged. "Don't know. Guess they died or something when I was little. Maybe they just abandoned me. It don't really matter."

"You don't want to know what happened to your family?" Gajeel asked.

"No, I don't! I told you, I have my guild, I don't need no one else." Sangre snapped again. It was becoming clear he didn't care for Gajeel very much. He held his closed fist out over Gajeel's face again. "Open up."

Again, Gajeel refused the offer. Sangre only waited a few second this time before removing his hand and packing up his things.

"Sangre, could we get some water to drink? Gajeel is losing a lot of fluids." Lily said, stopping Sangre just before he left the room.

"I'll see what I can do." He said before leaving and slamming the door.

"Why are we being nice to the kid?" Gajeel asked.

"We are going to need help to get out of here. Kid seems like the only choice." Lily told him.

Lily had a point, just not one Gajeel liked. Neither Cobra or Bones was likely to mess up and give them a chance to get free. Gajeel could work his plan of giving Bones information but who knew how long that would take before she trusted him. That and, honestly, he wasn't sure how much longer he could tolerate her using his body before he found a way to end it. The padding on his wrist might have looked like a caring gesture but it kept him from being able to slice them open and bleed to death. The easy way out wasn't going to be that easy.

Sangre was young and impressionable. He had high respect for his guild but Gajeel had felt the same way about Phantom. He knew how to get to the kid. He could talk to him, make him see there is a better option. That meant he would need to get the kid to visit which meant he would need to bleed, often. He wondered if Lily had thought about that.

"As long as you can take it, Gajeel. I think getting that kid back here is a good plan." Lily said.

 _Yeah, as long as I can take being cut up._ He had been through worse in his life. "We'll keep it as a solid plan B."

About an hour later plan B moved to plan A when Sangre returned. Not only did he have water for both of them he had gotten bread for Lily. He helped Gajeel drink his water, which surprisingly had iron filings in it. When Gajeel questioned him about it he simply responded with "Keeping you alive is my job" and left it at that.

Gajeel wasn't sure how long they were left alone after that. He was exhausted and dozed in and out of consciousness. He tried listening for movement on the other side of the door but never heard anything. He tried keeping track of the time but there was no windows in the room. The only light came from lacrima placed around the room.

The peace and quiet wasn't meant to last and eventually Bones returned with more questions. Like before they were simple questions about who was in the guild and what magic they used. Refusal to answer was punished. Lies were punished more. Honest answers were rewarded. Freely given information was rewarded more.

It didn't matter what option Gajeel went with, all lead to the same end. This time around he attempted to just not say anything in response to her questions. This meant that his flesh was carved up again. This wasn't a negative to Bones though, if anything it aroused her more than fondling him did.

He was a complete bloody mess by the time she became frustrated with his lack of cooperation. She forget the questions and fucked him anyways. She was more violent than she had been in the past, biting his flesh and burring her claws in his chest and sides. The pain was blinding and pulled screams from Gajeel's chest. Even that wasn't enough to make him soft, in the end it wasn't even enough to keep him from climaxing. He officially hated himself.

"I suggest you be more forthcoming next time or I'll move on to the cat." Bones threatened before leaving the room.

Nothing was said between the two friends. Lily was at a lost for words. What could you say after someone goes through something like that? Gajeel on the other hand wasn't sure his voice would work if he wanted it too. His throat felt raw and he tasted blood. It could be caused by the amount of blood in the air or from his nearly continuous screams, he wasn't sure.

It felt like an eternity before Sangre showed his face. Gajeel didn't even look when he heard the door. He didn't acknowledge the kid until the washcloth touched his skin and that was only to roar in pain.

"I need to clean you. Mistress doesn't like blood." Sangre said in way of apology. Gajeel let out a rough chuckle that he instantly regretted.

"Who do you think did this to him?" Lily asked. He received no answer. "She spent a lot of time making him bleed for not liking blood."

"She only did that because he wouldn't answer her questions." He said in a defensive tone. His handling of Gajeel became rougher, something that seemed to happen if he was upset.

"Fuck!" Gajeel shouted at the new found pain. He was surprised anything could make him hurt worse but apparently he could. "Would you stop pissing him off Lily!"

Gajeel couldn't see it, but Lily moved back in his cage. It put Gajeel mostly out of his sight. He knew this wasn't going to be easy but he knew they still had to try.

"We care for our guild as much as you do yours. Would you give away guild secrets?" Lily asked.

"No! Never!" He snapped, pouring the bucket of water over Gajeel to wash most of the blood away.

"Not even if you were being tortured?" Lily asked.

"I would rather die!" Gajeel saw it. The brief moment, the flicker of understanding. For just a second the kid got it and was looking at Gajeel's wounds in a new light. It only lasted for half a heartbeat but it was there. After that Sangre stormed off, not even offering Gajeel the mystery iron.

Sangre didn't return after leaving this time. They waited but he never came back. Eventually Gajeel faded off into sleep once again.


	8. Chapter 8

"I'm not a babysitter!" Gajeel was yelling at Metalicana. The dragon had taken him and Bones out early in the morning to a meeting with the other dragons and their slayers. He was now telling Gajeel that he was to watch the other children while the dragons had some sort of meeting.

"I don't need him to watch me! I want to come with you, Igneel." The pink haired boy, Natsu, was shouting at the fire dragon king.

"You will do as I say and stay here Natsu. You must set a good example for the young ones." Igneel told his charge.

The young ones he was talking about was the three other children in the field. Wendy, Sting, and Ryos were all around the age of five. All three were relatively new dragon slayers. Wendy had only been taken in by Grandeeney a year ago. Sting and Ryos were taking in about two years ago by Weisslogia and Skiadrum respectively. Bones and Gajeel had meet all their fellow slayers before but this was the first time they had all been in the same location at once.

"Grendeeney, please don't leave me!" Wendy cried as she clutched onto her adoptive mothers leg.

Watching the children crying to their dragons and the dragons comforting the children made Bones feel sick. Even Metalicana was being unusually gentle with Gajeel. It all made her heart ache as she thought of everything she had lost. Everyone was so distracted it wasn't hard for her to sneak away. She walked into the tree line and vanished.

The dragons left their children and gathered in a clearing not far from the kids. It was too dangerous to leave them alone for long. Metalicana had explained to the others what had happened between Acnologia and his brother.

"He knows of our plan. We have to act now." Skiadrum said after Metalicana's story.

"We do not know that. Acnologia had been attempting to wipe us all out." Grandeeney said.

"Why would he leave the child alive if he knew of her existence?" Igneel asked.

"She was hiding in the corpse of my dead brother!" Metalicana snapped. Igneel lowered his head in a move of respect, attempting to show acknowledgement of his pain.

"We are all affected by the loss of Marcium but I will not risk Sting's safety because of your fear!" Weisslogia snapped, taking a step towards Metalicana.

"And I will not risk Wendy over your stubbornness." Grendeeney was calm as she spoke but there was an edge to her voice to show she was serious.

Arguments broke out from there. Each dragon was speaking over each other to the point no one could make out what was being said. Weisslogia and Skidrum wanted to wait until they knew Acnologia's next move before making a decision. Both felt they needed more time to teach their boys. Grendeeney and Metalicana both felt Acnologia was a serious threat and wanted to protect the future.

"Enough!" Igneel roared after several minutes had past. The other dragons quieted down and looked at him. "Metalicana is right. We must act to insure the future is safe."

"What of the girl? With Marcium dead who will protect her? She will become just like Acnologia." Weisslogia pointed out.

"We cannot be sure that will happen." Metalicana didn't sound like he believed his own words.

"We must get rid of her. Before she can grow." Skiadrum sided with the white dragon.

"Wendy will need her guidance. If I am not there to teach her, some will have too." Grendeeney made a plea.

"She is dangerous! What good will come of killing Acnologia if we allow her to live? She will ruin everything." Weisslogia said.

"I will insure that does not happen. She is my responsibility. I will not allow you to murder the last part of my brother!" Metalicana got into the white dragons face, ready to fight the frail dragon.

"You know the price we will all be paying. You cannot protect both her and Gajeel. Would you sacrifice him to save her?" Igneel asked, earning him a death glare from Metalicana.

"Gajeel will protect her, guild her. We cannot prevent what she will become but we can keep her on our side. She could be the deciding factor in the battle to come."

"And if she turns against us? Will Gajeel be the one to end her before she becomes a threat?" Igneel asked.

"Yes." Metalicana's voice was as cold as the metal he was covered in.

-0-

Bones woke in a cold sweat. She had been dreaming a lot about her past since finding Gajeel. She could remember that day clearly as any other. She had been in the tree line, listening as the dragons spoke about her future without thinking to speak to her. Metalicana's last word echoed in her head. The dragon would roll over in his grave if he could see things now. Gajeel was her puppet, he couldn't raise a hand against her let alone end her. She would laugh if the whole thing wasn't so tragic.

She was alone in the room that functioned as her personal quarters. In one corner there was a small bed and nightstand. She had a few dresses hanging in the closet and a nearly empty dresser against one wall. There was a desk with a communication lacrima set up so she could report into Ivan. She had yet had any reason to use it. She knew he was growing impatient but she didn't care, she wasn't doing this to help him.

She ran her hand tenderly over her stomach. She could already feel the lives that were starting to grow there. She already had two children growing in her womb and she hope to soon add a third.

Female dragons would lay large clutches of eggs, into the hundreds at one time. Unmated females would attempt to have eggs fertilized from as many different males as they could manage. This would insure the nest had a number of protectors and because no one male could know which eggs they fathered it prevented them from destroying the eggs before they could hatch. The more men a brood mother could breed with the higher chance her children had of survival.

Things worked a similar way for slayer females. For one month, twice a year, Bones would ovulate every week. This gave her a chance to carry up to four children by four different men. The first of her children belonged to Kurohebi. He wasn't much of a looker but he was high ranking in the guild and would help boost her own status. The fact he was nearly as sadistic as she was, was an added benefit. Kurohebi's visits usually ended in bloody sex and at least one dead body. Good fun all around.

The second egg had not taken despite her attempts with a captured Fairy Tail mage. She had been unable to make him to preform like she could Gajeel. They still had him, were holding him in one of the cells. He was a weak telepath mage who was of little use to them but Ivan insisted they keep all the Fairy's alive. He planned to use them as bargaining chips later on.

The second child was Cobra's. Her control over him had been slipping. His body was learning how to handle her pheromones and he had broken her hold twice already. She had regained control both times but she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep him. She was going to use his own biological urge to protect his offspring against him. He was already better behaved, able to sense the life within her. She didn't even attempt to hid the fact she was pregnant with his child from him. He had been angry but compliant since.

She had one more fertile week. One more egg that could give life. She was determined to have Gajeel as the father. She would insure his obedience, solidify her control over him. She wanted him by her side forever and she was more than willing to use a child to insure it. She would have to send the baby away once it was born, of course. Keep the brat far away from Gajeel so he couldn't run off with it. That was no problem to her. Ivan would reward her greatly for a Dragon-Slayer child.

She smiled as she held her hand over her stomach. Any day now she could conceive Gajeel's child and once that happened he would finally be hers.

-0-

The "interrogations" continued for Gajeel. The best he could figure was he was getting questioned three times a day, going on how much he was allowed to heal in-between. Sangre would come to clean him once a day according to Gajeel's schedule. When it wasn't Sangre it was other members of the guild, other female members. They all took their time cleaning him, feeling his body. Some tried to use the residual effects of Bone's pheromones to use him like she would. The pheromone's would fade and he would go soft before they could finish but it didn't stop them trying or lessen his humiliation.

Things were timed out where Gajeel was not allowed to sleep. He had nothing to eat since Sangre had slipped iron into his water. They were giving him plenty of water, keeping his fluids up and him alive, but no food or sleep. Gajeel no longer spoke when anyone was in the room. He did not answer any questions and took the punishment. He was sliced up more this way, deeper more painful injuries, but it aroused Bones and lead to an ending quicker. It also gave him something else to focus on as she raped him, over and over again.

He had been there maybe four or five days at this point. Everything was becoming routine and, in a way, easier to deal with. He knew what to expect and was able to prepare. The cleaning girls had already been by. His body was dry, wounds starting to close, maybe two hours had passed. Lily was asleep, Gajeel heard his soft snores so it was probably late in the night. Cat had an internal clock that couldn't be beat. Gajeel didn't react when he heard the door open. It was time for the next round of questioning.

Gajeel was expecting pheromones, the scent he no longer associated with Levy but with pain and humiliation but was greeted by a sour smell. It was like a mix of reptile and oil and made Gajeel feel nauseous.

"You don't smell like sunflowers and daisies either." The voice was rough and it took Gajeel a few seconds to place it. It was the Poison Dragon Slayer, Cobra.

"Changing things up on me? Good, I was starting to get bored." Gajeel's own voice was horse and nearly unrecognizable to his own ears. Days of screaming and little else left his throat sore and possibly bleeding.

Cobra let out a light, humorless chuckle. "Still have a sense of humor. I'm impressed."

Gajeel watched as Cobra walked over to him. As he got closer he could see how bad Cobra looked. He looked sick, his eyes were sunken in and his skin had an unhealthy pale color. His hair was stringy like he wasn't taking care of himself. The brand, and it was a brand not a scar, on his neck stood out more now that he had lost so much color. It was an egg shape with a bone shape in the center. Cobra's clothes were hanging off him, it was clear he had lost weight in an unhealthy way. All in all he looked like shit.

"Wow, you're one to talk." Cobra said, acting insulted. "Have you looked at yourself?"

"Been a little tied up." Gajeel pulled at his restraints to make a point. "Maybe you could help me out."

Cobra rolled his eye at the man. He was surprised that Gajeel managed to keep a since of humor. It was a struggle for him most days, but without his humor was life really worth living.

"You're turn to torture me?" Gajeel asked. _Maybe do me the favor of killing me?_

"Not today I'm afraid. I might grant that request soon." Cobra reached out and forced Gajeel's mouth open before forcing iron scraps inside.

Gajeel tried spitting them out. Currently starvation was his only way out. Sangre didn't talk with them anymore, Bones was never going to trust him, starvation was all that he had left. Cobra kept his hand over Gajeel's mouth, not allowing him to spit the scraps out.

"Eat, you are going to need the strength." Cobra ordered.

 _I would rather die._ Gajeel thought, growling at Cobra.

"Mistress won't allow you to die until she gets what she wants. You have one chance tomorrow or you can wait over a year. Do you want to live like this for a year?" Cobra hissed at him. He saw some understanding in Gajeel's eyes as his mind fill with questions. Cobra relaxed when Gajeel finally started to eat the metal scraps and swallow.

"You can read minds." It was a statement, not a question.

"Look who's a genius." Cobra moved a few steps away from Gajeel. "If you still want that wish once Mistress gets what she wants, I'll happily fulfill it if you answer my questions first."

"What does she want?" Gajeel asked. He could feel the iron already returning some of his strength.

"She wants a child, your child." Cobra said. Gajeel suddenly felt sick as that sank in.

Cobra waited until Gajeel fully absorbed that information before reaching in his pocket and grabbing more metal. This time Gajeel didn't fight him and just took the offered food.

"Why are you suddenly helping me?" Gajeel asked.

"I told you. I have questions I need answered." Cobra said. In truth, he hated Bones. She had promised him answered to Cubellios, had promised access to Fairy Tail member. He got none of that. He could see them come in, ruffle through their minds which was mostly confused messes at that point. He never got to see them again. He wasn't allowed in the cells, wasn't allowed to touch her precious Gajeel. Now she was starving him, withholding food because he wasn't proving useful. She was the one handicapping him!

"I'm not turning on my guild." Gajeel told him.

"I don't care about your guild." Cobra told him. He startled as he heard footsteps go past the closed door. He wasn't supposed to be here. He waited for the person to walk a good distance away before he left.

Gajeel was left to his thoughts. Bones wanted a baby, his baby. Honestly, at the rate she was going it wasn't crazy to think about. The idea of pregnancy wasn't something Gajeel had been thinking about until this moment. What would he do if she had his kid? He couldn't leave it with her, couldn't abandon his child. Would he even survive long enough to see a child born? Would she keep him around after she got what she wanted? Why did she want his child? What would she do with them?

Gajeel didn't get much time to think over these questions before Bones graced him with her presence. He could smell her pheromones before she even entered the room. Once she did he was completely overwhelmed. Gajeel couldn't honestly remember much of what happened after that. His higher brain function shut off. The pheromones had driven his dragon into a frensy. He wasn't just at her mercy, he was a willing, egger participant in whatever she wanted. At some point after an unknown amount of time Bones worked him to the point of complete exhaustion.

Gajeel woke to pure agony. The pain was so intense that before he fully came around he was rolling onto his side and vomiting. Each heave sent a wave of pain through his body that only made him sick again. He was dry heaving for several minutes before exhaustion overruled the pain and he was able to rest, laying on his side halfway curled up.

He tried to take a survey of the damage. The shoulder he wasn't laying on was screaming at him, his arm pulled at a strange angle. The pain was familiar to Gajeel and he knew it was dislocated. His sides felt like they had been torn open, one look at them confirmed that. Throbbing in his neck and shoulders made him feel like he had been used as a chew toy. The right side of his neck burned; he didn't know what that was from. Outside of those injuries he was just generally sore from overwork.

Gajeel tucked his legs up closer to his chest, only able to get halfway there. He was shivering uncontrollably. He felt like his body had been drenched in ice. The musky scent of stale sex mixed with the coppery scent of old blood, under it he picked up the sickly-sweet scent of infection. _Great, just what I fucking need right now._

It took Gajeel far, far too long for him to understand that he was laying, curled up on his side. He was able to move. He was still tied down, the pull on his wrists and ankles confirmed that but he had some movement. The only problem was he couldn't gather the strength to move off his injuries, let along break free. How pathetic could he be?

"Gajeel? Are you alright?" Lily's voice filled the room, it sounded like he was screaming to Gajeel but he knew the Exceed was barely talking above a whisper.

"Gajeel, please talk to me." Lily said after a few minutes when Gajeel didn't answer.

"I'm alive." He said. His voice didn't even sound like him. It was horse, deep, rough.

"I'm sorry I didn't understand before. I do now." Lily said. Gajeel had no idea what he was talking about so he didn't answer. It hurt to talk and he just wanted to sleep.

Gajeel closed his eyes. He tried to remember what happened after Bones came in the room. He got flashes, her fucking him, but most of the details of were fuzzy. "What did I do?"

"You don't want to know." Lily answered. He heard the cage moving as his friend paced the small space.

"I need to know." Gajeel could start to taste blood as he spoke. He needed to rest.

"It wasn't you Gajeel. It was your body but not you." Lily said. Once Bones had entered to room Gajeel had gone out of his mind. The only thing that kept him from pouncing on her had been the restraints. She had used him a handful of time, something Lily was now used to seeing, before she was sure she had complete control over him. Once she was sure of that fact she had added rope to his restraints, allowing him some movement, movement that he used to assist her in fucking him. Gajeel had been like an animal. Lily didn't understand how Bones was doing it, but she had some sort of control over him.

Gajeel felt a lead weight in his chest. Maybe Lily was right, he didn't need any more bad memories. There was one thing he had to know, however. "Did I bite her?"

He heard Lily stop his pacing. "Why would you ask that?"

"Lily, did I bite her? Did I … Is she my mate?" Gajeel tried shouting but his voice cracked.

Lily was quiet for a few seconds, making Gajeel start to panic. "No, you didn't even try."

It was the first good new Gajeel had heard since they were captured. With that in his mind he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"Wake up, rust bucket!" Gajeel was grabbed by the shoulder and violently forced onto his back by Cobra. He tried to scream out from the pain but he couldn't make a sound. It felt like his throat was closed up.

"While Mistress is recovering from all your attention, I have questions for you." Cobra said. He walked around the table and tighten all of Gajeel's restraints, again holding Gajeel down so he couldn't move.

 _Good luck getting any answers out of me._ Gajeel thought. He couldn't answer even if he wanted too.

"I want to know what you Fairies are doing with Cubellios." There was venom in his voice.

Gajeel gave him a confused look. _Who the fuck?_

"Cubellios. She's about this tall, short purple hair, spent most of her life as a snake. Where is she?" Cobra held his hand in the air to show how tall the women he met had been. He only saw her the one time but he would never forget a single detail.

 _Is he talking about K …_ Gajeel stopped his thought before it could fully form.

"I heard that! Who is she!" Cobra screamed into Gajeel's face. He was leaning over him and putting his weight on his shoulders. White pain blinded Gajeel's vision and he focused on that, let it fill his mind to keep the name out of his thoughts.

"Tell me her name." Gajeel didn't feel the claws that broke his skin but he did feel the burning pain that spread from Cobra's hold and his poison spread in his veins. Gajeel started to mentally list of the names of every person he could think of. He started with every member of Phantom that he had bothered to learn the name of, then moved to Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, Sabertooth, anyone he had ever met. He listed the names over and over, tuning out any questions from Cobra.

Cobra demanded the name over and over but Gajeel refused to tell him. Cobra tried to torture the information out of him but Gajeel was already in so much pain it didn't even affect him, his body numb. Cobra only had a handful of minutes with Gajeel before he heard people heading for the room. He wasn't allowed to be around the prisoners without permission from Mistress. When he heard someone heading right for Gajeel's room he quickly took his leave, fully frustrated with the lack of information he had obtained.

Gajeel relaxed once Cobra left but made sure to keep Kinana's name far from his mind. He didn't need someone like him anywhere near that sweet women.

The door opened and closed again only a little over a minute after Cobra left. Gajeel didn't bother to look and see who it was. His blood was on fire from Cobra's poison. His skin felt like ice and he was drenched in sweat. He couldn't catch his breath or move.

Sangre walked into Gajeel's room and had to drop the bucket and towels he was carrying to cover his noise. The stench was overwhelming, it smelled like bottled death. "Don't tell me you died. Mistress will be so pissed at me if you died."

As if on cue Gajeel started seizing. His hands and feet were held in place as the rest of his body violently jerked. Sangre cursed and ran over to Gajeel. He quickly removed the restraints on one side, allowing him to roll Gajeel onto his side and hold his head while he seized.

"Gajeel! What's happening to him?" Lily shouted as he tried to break out of his cage, throwing himself at the enchanted door.

"I don't know. I've never seen this." There was panic in the child's voice, tears running down his face. "Gajeel, please stop. You have to stop."

Gajeel didn't react to his words, the seizure continued. Lily screamed for help while Sangre was uselessly holding Gajeel on the table, begging him to stop.

Two mages walking by heard Lily's screams and saw the open door. Curiosity must have got the better of them because they peaked their heads in. Lily didn't recognize either of them. Both wore matching faces of disgust and horror at what they saw.

"What's going on in here?" One of the two men asked.

"I don't know." Sangre said, still panicked as he tried to hold Gajeel still even as he continued to convulse. "Help, if he dies, Mistress will kill us all."

Those words kicked them men into action. They ran over to try and figure out what to do. The second man quickly noticed Gajeel's fever. "We have to cool him off."

Sangre ran over and grabbed the water bucket he had brought in and threw it over Gajeel. Nothing changed. One of the men that came in turned out to be a snow mage and covered Gajeel in a layer of snow that quickly melted. They fought to cool him as he seized for what felt like an eternity. In reality it was only about ten minutes before Gajeel finally laid limp on the table, not breathing.

 **A/N: I'm sorry it is taking me so long to get these chapters out. Honestly they are just really hard for me to write. I can only write a scene or two before I need a break and have to write something else. This part will be over soon and I'll hopefully have an easier time writing and be able to get chapters out faster.**


	9. Chapter 9

Hell was colder than Gajeel thought it would be. It didn't hurt as much as he thought it would either, in fact he could hardly feel anything. When he opened his eyes the first thing he was greeted with was a blurry image of Levy. Wonderful, sweet Levy. Maybe he was in heaven. What could he have ever done to earn that?

"I leave you alone for a few days and you almost kill him!" Levy was shouting. She had her back to him and he couldn't see who she was yelling at. "You had one job! One fucking job and you couldn't do that!"

"He didn't die." Gajeel heard the meek voice but his foggy brain couldn't place it.

"That is the only reason you are still alive." Levy hissed.

In the back of Gajeel's mind he was starting to understand it wasn't Levy. He was starting to realize he was still alive, sill at the mercy of his childhood friends. That, however, didn't explain this feeling he had. He felt drawn to Levy … not Levy, Bones. He felt a connection to her that he couldn't understand. It made him feel … soft, compassionate, like he cared for her. He hated it.

"It's because she bares your child." A voice whispered in his ear. Gajeel jumped and turned his head to be face to face with Cobra.

 _What did you say?_ For some reason Gajeel felt it was best not to talk so he tried projecting his thoughts. Bones was still shouting at whoever it was and he didn't want to draw her attention.

"It's really the most annoying thing. See, even if you could get free and managed to take her down, you wouldn't be able to end her. All that hate you have, that need for revenge, it will go unabated because that bitch is the mother of a child you don't even want." The disgust was clear in Cobra's voice.

 _Sounds like someone is speaking from experience._ Gajeel didn't want to accept what Cobra was telling him, but that had been Bone's plan after all, so really it wasn't that hard to believe.

"We are two peas in a pod." Cobra whispered, touching the brand on his neck. "The second that brat is born I'm filling her with enough venom she will melt into a pile of goo."

Gajeel was going to respond but he was distracted by the sound of fist hitting flesh followed by someone hitting the ground. His head snapped over to look at the direction the sound came from. Bones was standing over someone curled up on the ground. It took Gajeel a moment to recognize it was Sangre. Cobra slammed his hand over Gajeel's mouth before he could yell at her.

"You're lucky I don't hand you over to Ivan. Do you think you can manage to keep him alive for a few minutes while I check on out other guests?" Bones asked. She waited for a nod from Sangre before stepping over his body and walking out of the room.

Sangre got off the floor and came over to Gajeel. He was holding his middle and Gajeel figured Bones had punched him there.

"You're lucky I fucking covered for you. Mistress wouldn't have thought twice about killing you." Sangre said with a glare at Cobra. He cast his eyes down to Gajeel. "I'm glad to see you are awake."

"Wish I could say the same." Gajeel tried to say but no sound came out.

"He says fuck you." Cobra said. Gajeel glared up at him.

 _That's not what I fucking said, asshole._ As Gajeel was looking up at Cobra behind his head he noticed something was missing. The cage that Lily was being held in was missing. "My cat!" The words came out raspy and barely audible.

"We had him removed. He was … upset at what happened …" Sangre said.

"Mistress was pissed at the fit he was throwing. Apparently you dying was upsetting." Cobra filled in.

"Yes … I don't think he will be back." Sangre said. At the horrified look on Gajeel's face he continues. "He is unharmed, as long as you begin to cooperate."

"Fuck off" Gajeel thought and Cobra relayed. _You should have just killed me._

"You should have given me the name." Cobra responded.

"You weren't supposed to be near him." Sangre said to Cobra.

"I don't take orders from children." Cobra shot back.

 _Can you have this pissing match elsewhere?_ Gajeel groaned. He tried to curl onto his side only to find he was restrained again where he couldn't move. Somehow that was more defeating than anything else since he had woken. Cobra laughed at him.

"It gets so much worse." Cobra told him.

After that, Gajeel tried to just tried to ignore them. It wasn't hard, his mind was mostly fried at this point. He let himself wonder, daydreaming about the life he had back in Fairy Tail. It was melancholy thoughts but he was able to keep it to mostly images and felt like a sort of private moment. He had this growing feeling that he was never going to see any of his friends again. He wondered if any of them missed him. He highly doubted any of them were even knew he was gone.

-0-

 _He is doing it again. Why does he always have to be like this?_

Levy and Jet had been dating for a little over and month and things were … predictable. Today was a good example of that. Levy was trying to do research and Jet was constantly needing to touch her. It drove her crazy. Levy liked Jet and she wasn't against displays of affection but she felt suffocated.

They were at the guild hall today, relaxing between jobs. Levy had decided to continue her research into dragon behavior and was considering writing a book about her theories. Dominic had thought it was a great idea and was supplying her with information from the dig they were still working on. Currently she was going over the very detailed history of Motherglare. It was an interesting look into a dragon she had in some way met. At least she fought a few dozen on her offspring.

As Levy was reading and making notes Jet sat next to her with his arm around her waist. No matter how many times Levy pushed his arm away it always ended up back around her, pulling her against him. The fifth time this happened Levy lost her temper.

"Would you stop touching me." She snapped at Jet, slamming her notebook shut.

"Levy? What's wrong?" Jet asked, honestly confused as to why she was upset.

"I can't work with you smothering me. You know this." Jet and Droy both learned early into their friendship with Levy that she was great at blocking out the outside world while she worked. She would get so focused that the noises and people around her would fade away. If someone was touching her though she couldn't shake it off. It worked like a ground to keep her from focusing. They knew this and it was why they had always kept a distance in the past.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize …" Jet looked reasonably sorry.

Levy sighed. She had been starting to pack up her things but stopped. She had to remind herself that Jet wasn't just a friend anymore and that meant his behavior was going to be different. He wasn't trying to distract her; he was just trying to be affectionate.

At a calmer pace she put away her notes and placed Motherglare's book in the special box she had for it. It was enchanted to keep the over four-hundred-year-old parchment in idea temperature, moisture, and light to prevent further damage. She had two other books in there that Dominic had sent her that she had yet to start on.

"It's okay, Jet. I need a break anyways. Would you mind running this back to your place so I can work on them later?" Levy asked, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Jet brightened right up. If Levy wanted her research at his apartment that meant she would be spending the night. They hadn't had sex since that first time, Levy said she wasn't ready and he didn't push, but maybe tonight would be the night.

"I'll be back in a flash." Jet said, grabbing the box and Levy's notes before running out of the guild.

"Are things good with you two?" Droy asked as the front door of the guild was swinging closed.

"I … I think so." Levy said, putting on a smile for her friend. "I mean, it's a learning curve right?"

"I guess … I just worry about you." Droy said. "I want you happy."

Levy gave him a real smile. "Thank you. Don't worry, Droy, I am happy."

Droy was about to say something but closed his mouth as the door to the guild hall opened and Jet raced back in.

Now that Levy wasn't trying to do work she didn't have an issue with Jet holding her. After a few minutes Lucy came over to their table and the two girls started talking about Lucy's book and general guild gossip. Levy had learned a while ago from Mira that Gajeel had returned to the guild but left on a job shortly after. Levy couldn't help but worry about him.

It was a few days after that when something happened to make Levy really start to worry about Gajeel. She was in the guild, hanging out with the girls. Natsu and Gray had started a fight on the other side of the guild that had expanded to include multiple other guild members. It was early in the afternoon and most of the guild was hanging out, either in the guild or the surrounding buildings. Everyone froze when the guild doors opened.

Lahar and Mest walked in with six rune knights following them. No one ever liked when the rune knights stopped by for a visit. It caused everyone in the guild to feel like they were just caught by their mother having cookies before dinner after she just said no. Everyone watched them suspiciously as Lahar made his way up to Makarov at the bar. Neither man said a word as Makarov jumped down and lead Lahar up into his office.

"Hey, Mest." Wendy smiled and waved the man over to their table.

"I told you, my name is Doranbolt." Mest reminded her as he walked over to the table but didn't sit down. After his undercover mission on Tenrou Island he had become fond of the Fairy Tail guild and especially Wendy. For many years he had thought he was to blame for her death and now that she was alive and well he was somewhat protective of her. As much as he was allowed to be given his position.

"Oh … Right." Wendy said with and embarrassed smile.

"So, what are you trying to blame us for now?" Cana asked. "Whatever it is, we didn't do it."

"We are here at the request of Master Makarov." Mest told them.

"Why would the master call you guys?" Lucy wondered out loud.

"Maybe he is tired of putting up with Laxus? He did just get back to town." Cana suggested.

"You're team also just got back, Lucy. Did Natsu do anything on the last job?" Mira asked.

"Nothing more destructive than normal. We did blow up that bridge …" Lucy gasped and covered her mouth before looking big eyed at Mest.

"Huh, what? Did you say something?" He asked with a knowing smile.

"I wonder if this has anything to do with Laki and Warren." Levy suggested. Her words went over the table like a bucket of ice water. It was a little discussed fact that no one had seen either guild member for a long time. They tried to all pretend that nothing was wrong and they would show up any day, but neither of them were known for long disappearances.

"They aren't the only ones to go missing." Mira said in a somber voice.

"What do you mean?" Levy asked. Mest was also paying close attention.

"Master told me not to say anything." Mira said before making an excuse to leave the group.

It seemed like an eternity that Makarov and Lahar were talking. New spread that the rune knights were at the guild and everyone started showing up to find out what was going on. It was over an hour before the two men left the office. Makarov headed up to the stage, Lahar gathered his men before following. Everyone was watching nervously as Makarov stood on the stage with Lahar and Mest on either side of him, six run knights behind them.

"I'm glad most of you are here. I wish I didn't have to resort to this but Captain Lahar has given me little choice." Makarov said, making sure the guilds full attention was on them before Lahar spoke.

"It has come to our attention that mages from legal guilds have been coming under attack." Lahar stated. He glanced down at Makarov, almost as if looking for permission, before continuing. "We believe this to be the work of a network of dark guilds. They are attacking on the roads between town and several people have gone missing."

Whispers broke out around the guild. Warren and Laki being mentioned by several people. Lahar again looked to Makarov before he continued.

"As of now we believe that these guilds are responsible for … three missing members of Fairy Tail." There was a momentary pause. "Along with people missing from other guilds."

"What are you going to do about it!?" Someone in the crowd yelled.

"Who is missing!"

"Are they dead?"

"I say we hunt them down!"

"No one hurts Fairy Tail and gets away with it!"

The crowd erupted in outrage. People shouting over each other. They demanded action, information, they wanted a solution.

"Enough!" Makarov shouted; his body grew to terrifying size for a moment until everyone quieted down. He nodded for Lahar to continue.

"This is a matter for the rune knights to handle." Lahar said the words slowly and clearly. "Anyone who takes action into their own hands will have to answer to us."

There was grumbles of disagreement but no one was willing to risk Makarov's anger to really voice their disagreement. "We are currently trying to locate Warren Rocko, Laki Olietta, and Chico Hammitt, who was recently reported missing, along with several other mages. While we cannot order you to not work, we suggest you consider it. If you must, it is advised you stay close to Magnolia or towns connected by train. I will repeat this is a job for the rune knights. Do not interfere."

Protest started to break out around the guild again. People were angry and they wanted answers. They were worried about their friends and then wanted to help. It was all understandable and Lahar turned the stage over to Mest, letting him deal with the questions and outrage. Mest, however, wasn't able to answer any of the guilds questions.

"They're not telling us something." Cana said.

"What makes you think that?" Lucy asked.

"It's just a feeling, I don't trust them." Cana said.

Levy agreed with her. Something about this whole situation didn't feel right. Mest had said the master had asked them to come. Lahar made it sound like it was his idea. If other guilds were effected why hadn't they heard about it? They had asked their friends to be on the lookout for Warren and Laki, wouldn't they have asked the same in return? Who were the other people that were missing? While all these questions were flying through her head another came to mind.

"Lu? When did Gajeel and Lily leave on their last job?" Levy asked.

All the girls had to stop and think about it. Carla answered when no one else could remember. "It was nearly a month ago. Although I don't think they were on a job. They never came near the request board."

"What are you talking about?" Wendy asked her friend.

"Don't you remember. They came back from that pointless dragon hunt, went to the masters office and left again. Most likely they were trying to find that imaginary dragon." Carla told them.

The table went quiet, especially Levy. She knew there was never a dragon. What could Gajeel have needed to talk to the master about? Part of Levy was worried that Gajeel had left the guild because of what happened between him and Jet and part of her was worried that he and Lily were part of the missing. Missing was such a horrible word. Missing meant you knew nothing. Missing could mean lost, run away, kidnapped, or dead. Levy didn't want to think about any of those options and no one brought them up either.

Weeks past with no news. The request board was unusually full. People who worked in large teams like team Natsu or Laxus weren't afraid to take whatever jobs they wanted but the rest of the guild was. People who wouldn't normally work with others were now teaming up just to go one or two towns over. The request made by the people of Magnolia were scooped up within minutes no matter what it was. Levy was lucky in that she could grab any translation jobs that came up and she was more than willing to help Jet and Droy with rent seeing she basically lived at their apartment now.

There was an atmosphere of fear and anxiety in the guild. Makarov was quick to knock down any idea of hunting down the dark guilds. People weren't stupid, however. It didn't take long to learn the no other guild had a visit from the rune knight and no one was missing guild members. Attacks on members of Fairy Tail seemed to ne decreasing but there was still no word on the missing members. Gajeel and Lily were unofficially considered missing.

Macao was the most recent to join the missing in a disturbing way. He was traveling to Hargeon with Romeo when a group had attacked them on the train. It was sure numbers that had led to their ability to capture Macao. If the open attack wasn't weird enough, they had chosen to leave Romeo alone. He had been lashing out since.

"This is your fault!" Romeo was shouting at Laxus. The much larger man was sitting at a table with Bickslow and Evergreen.

"Look, if your dad couldn't defend himself it's not my fault." Laxus didn't even bother to look at Romeo. It had long been Laxus' point of view that Makarov didn't want them getting involved so he wasn't getting involved, no matter how much people pushed him too.

"Don't blame him! He did everything he could!" Romeo had tears running down his face. "He had to protect me."

"Then it sounds like it's your fault." Laxus said.

"Laxus!" Evergreen snapped her fan closed against her hand.

"That's uncalled for, man." Bickslow said.

"The kid's trying the blame me for something I had no part in." Laxus pointed out to his teammates.

"It was Raven Tail that took him!" Romeo's words echoed through the guild. Everyone was frozen for several seconds.

"What did you say?" Laxus asked, his full attention on Romeo now.

"They had that girl Flare with them. Raven Tail took my father." Romeo said, wiping the tears from his face.

Laxus stood quickly, looking ready to attack someone, possibly Romeo. Before he could say anything Makarov's voice echoed out over the guild. "Laxus! My office!"

Laxus slammed his hand down on the table, sparks coming off him before he went up to Makarov's office. The chatter started instantly, everyone trying to get information form Romeo about what had happened. Laxus was only gone for a minute before he could be heard shouting over the guild.

"Try and stop me old geezer!" Laxus said just before he stormed out of the masters office. "Bix, Ever, we are going, now!" His teammates didn't question his orders and quickly followed him out of the guild.

The guild was stunned by Laxus' reaction. No one even moved for half a minute. When they did move they all moved at once, swarming Romeo or breaking into groups to gossip.

"I didn't know he cared that much about Raven Tail." Levy said. She was sitting at the bar and had been watching the whole thing. Jet and Droy were sitting with her. She had been so worried about what was going on she had given up on her research and just wanted her friends close to her all the time.

"I doubt that's what really got to him." Mira said from where she was on the other side of the bar, cleaning a glass. "Freed never made it to his last job."

Freed had gone on a job with one of the new girls in the guild named Ariana. The young mage had asked him to go with her on a job for extra protection. Apparently it had done little to help them.

"First Macao and now Freed? They really aren't messing around." Jet pointed out.

"At least we know Macao was alive when they took him." Droy said. "Maybe that means everyone is alright."

"If Raven Tail has them, I doubt they are alright. I'll be surprised if they keep them alive after they get whatever they wants." Jet's words sounded mean but it was really what everyone was thinking.

Levy wrapped her arms around Jet with her face buried in his chest. She didn't want to think about her friends being dead, especially not Gajeel. She never got a chance to talk to him after he attacked Jet. Never got the chance to understand what happened and make up with him. He probably died thinking she hated him and she didn't know how she was going to live with that.


	10. Chapter 10

Gajeel was given time to heal. How much time he wasn't sure. They had set his broken bones and put his shoulder back into place when he was unconscious. At some point he had been cleaned and all his cuts treated. For the most part he was left alone in complete darkness. Gajeel wondered if at some point he had let his fear of the dark slip to Cobra.

Hour spent alone would be enough to make anyone start to see things, Gajeel had to be going on a week, maybe more. The pitch-black silence was bothersome enough on its own but after enough time passed Gajeel started to see shadows moving in the dark. Creatures were playing just at the edge of his vison, moving to fast for him to get a good look at. He heard them snickering, their shuffling footsteps in the dark. When he tried to sleep their breathing would be nearly deafening right in his ears. He found rest to be impossible.

As much as the shadows tormented him a part of his brain knew they were in his head … until they weren't. Things that were in his mind couldn't touch him, couldn't caress his body, couldn't grope him. He couldn't smell them, couldn't see them, couldn't move to fight them but he knew they were real. They never spoke, not even when he would yell at them, curse and threaten them. They would appear out of thin air, torment him, and leave without a trace. Gajeel didn't know if this was all part of Bone's plan, but if it was, it was working.

When the lights were finally turned on it was blinding. Gajeel couldn't open his eyes but he didn't need to in order to know what was going on. He heard bare feet walking towards him. Light footsteps, someone small. He could feel the pull on his dragon and when they came close he smelled lavender. Bone's had reappeared.

"How are you feeling?" Bones asked, she was leaning over his face.

"Fuck off." Gajeel's voice was raspy from disuse. He was feeling stronger than he had since he was brought here. He was starving but he didn't even notice that anymore.

He felt Bones messing with the cuff on his right wrist. He almost didn't believe it when he felt the metal fall away. He didn't know if she was just adjusting something or thought he was to weak to move but he didn't give her time to trap him again. In one move he opened his eyes and grabbed her by her throat. It would be so easy to break her neck.

"Oh no, looks like you outsmarted me. What are you going to do to me?" Bones didn't even sound worried; she was mocking him.

Gajeel glared at her. He tried to get his hand to tighten but it refused. No matter how much he wanted to his body wouldn't listen. He remembered Cobra had told him about this but he didn't really believe it. He had no control over his body. After a few highly embarrassing moments he let his arms drop. Bones laughed at him.

"You're mine now. I see that hate in your eyes, but you can't act on it, not while I carry your child." She was grinning at him. "But you could still leave me, so I think we will replace this."

Gajeel didn't fight her. He was livid at the lack of control he had over his own body. "What do you plan to do with me now?"

"I still have questions that I need answered." Bones moved away from him as she spoke.

"Fuck off." Gajeel told her again.

"That cat of yours …. Lily, right? It would be tragic if something happened to it." Bones threatened but Gajeel didn't react to it.

"Do you not care about your friend anymore?"

"Lily can take care of himself." Gajeel figured if Lily was still alive than she probably was just going to leave him in whatever hole she threw him in. No matter what she wasn't going to let them go so why did it matter.

"If you're not worried about him, what about this?" One of her nails extended out to a long sharp bone that she held to her stomach as a threat. Gajeel hated that his heart raced and his breath caught in his throat at the empty threat.

"You wouldn't hurt them." Gajeel's voice was shaky.

Bones seemed to contemplate that more a moment before she moved her hand away. "You're right. I'll just give them to Ivan. He is quite skilled at raising children."

"Don't you fucking dare!" Gajeel snapped. Ivan was a tyrant. He was as likely to murder the child as raise it and Gajeel didn't want to think about what a child raised by Ivan would be like.

"Then you better answer my questions." Bones had Gajeel trapped. He had no choice but to do what she wanted.

Thus the questions began again. Who was in the guild? What magic did they use? Who went on jobs the most and who stayed in the guild? There was a lot of questions about Laxus and his team. It didn't seem to matter to Bones if Gajeel answered her questions or not, she would hurt him either way. Days of not being able to hurt him seemed to make her more violent now. She would stab slivers of bones into his joints just to hear him scream. Her claws were as sharp as always. Her pheromones were weaker than they had been. She could still make herself smell like Levy but it didn't have the overpowering effect it use too, but it was still enough that she was able to fuck him when she wanted.

The interrogation sessions with Bones were kept short. Gajeel assumed this was to keep him for getting to weak and possibly dying on her again. When she wasn't questioning him he was left in the dark to allow the shadows to play with his mind more. Cobra would appear at times to question him, always about the same topic, Cubellios. Gajeel refused to let any information about her slip. Cobra would often lose his temper and poison Gajeel.

Sangre would come in to clean up Gajeel after Cobra's visits. Gajeel got the distinct impression that Cobra wasn't supposed to be alone with him and Sangre always wanted to insure Gajeel was alive after the questioning. Sangre might not like him, but Gajeel thought the kid might be starting to respect him. He was being nicer to him anyways and often insisted things would be easier if Gajeel simply cooperated.

"Hey, kid, can I ask you something?" Gajeel asked one time Sangre was cleaning out the bite wound from Cobra. The kid always had a soft glowing light that was enough for him to see but didn't hurt Gajeel's eyes after being in the dark for so long.

"You know I'm not going to answer." Sangre told him.

"What is Bones like? As a mother I mean?" Gajeel couldn't help but wonder. She was going to have his child, raise his child. He had never wanted children before, been set against ever having a family and now a baby was being forced on him and he couldn't stop thinking about it. It was stupid but part of him already loved that child. He was running out of bullshit to feed her and he knew once he was no longer useful she would kill him. There was no hope he would ever see his child. He would never hold them.

"Mistress … She is a good mother." Sangre told him. "She is strict. You learn not to cross her, but she does care, in her own way."

"You grew up in Raven Tail, right? What about Ivan? How did he treat you?" Gajeel asked, exposing another of his fears.

"Actually I've never met Master Ivan. Mistress kept me away from the rest of the guild. Children are weak and useless. Master Ivan has no need for them." Sangre had a bitter tone to his voice. It was clear he didn't see himself as weak or useless.

"Why are you so loyal to them then?" Gajeel asked. He immediately regretted it as Sangre pressed the heel of his hand into Gajeel's elbow that had half a dozen slivers of bone stuck in it.

"Master Ivan saved the Mistress as a child. She saved me as a baby. If it wasn't for Master Ivan me and the Mistress would be dead." Sangre gathered his things and turned his back on Gajeel. "I wouldn't expect a traitor to understand."

"You call me a traitor for betraying Raven Tail but I was never truly a member. I was spying on them for Fairy Tail the entire time. I was never on their side." Gajeel pointed out. "I was always loyal to my guild."

"Ivan was the one who found you after Phantom Lord fell. He took you under his wing and all he asked in return was your loyalty!" Sangre snapped at him.

"Ivan wanted me to bring him Laxus so he could steal the lacrima inside him. He wanted my help to murder his only son." Gajeel tried to keep his temper under control but it was difficult. "Ivan doesn't care about anyone, he only cares about power."

"That's not true!" Sangre's voice wavered, there was uncertainty etched on his face.

"You said it yourself, Ivan has no need for the weak and useless." Gajeel was pushing buttons but he had to do something. "Ivan doesn't even know you exist and if he did, he would throw you away like trash."

"That's a lie! I'm a forth generation Dragon-Slayer! The only one of my kind! I'm stronger than any before me! I'm better than Laxus could ever hope to be! Ivan would love me if he only knew I was …"

"Sangre, shut up!" Cobra's voice filled the room as he snapped at Sangre. The kid managed to look a little embarrassed at his outburst before grabbing his things and leaving the room in a rush.

Gajeel sighed and looked to the dark ceiling. Sangre's light had been left behind and is caused shadows to move over the surface.

"Kid sure has a hard on for Ivan." Gajeel didn't even try to keep his thoughts in his head anymore around Cobra. The man would hear them anyways and it was a little creepy thinking of him listening to his thoughts.

"Kid doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut." Cobra muttered as he moved closer to Gajeel.

"I'm going to bet you know all the secrets around here." Gajeel said.

"Only the good ones."

Gajeel thought about that. All the information Cobra must have. Gajeel had come to learn that Cobra was as much a prisoner as he was the only difference was the illusion of freedom Cobra was given. Gajeel was suspecting that there was long periods of time that Bones was away from the hideout. It would explain why her visits were so rare but Cobra's were becoming more constant. Why didn't Cobra just leave, just walk away during this time?

"Are you going to tell me where to find Cubellios?" Cobra asked him.

"Why don't you go look for her yourself? You know she is associated with Fairy Tail." Gajeel pointed out. Cobra didn't answer him. "You can't, can you? You can't leave here."

"I'm not some stupid child you can trick into giving you information." Cobra said, avoiding the questions. That was as good as a yes to Gajeel. He had learned over the last few days? Weeks? Months? However long it had been that Cobra didn't lie. He would tell half truths or avoid answers but he never lied.

"It's the kid isn't it?" Gajeel questioned.

"Sangre can take care of himself." Cobra said. Gajeel found that response interesting. He had been talking about the children that Bones was carrying but Cobra had assumed he meant Sangre which implied he cared about the kid. Cobra silently cured himself as the thoughts crossed Gajeel's mind.

"Mistress will be back soon. Ivan is getting disparate for information. If she doesn't give him something useful he will be paying you a visit." Gajeel's blood ran cold at the threat. Cobra didn't say anything more as he left the room, taking the light with him.

Gajeel again lost track of time. It could have been minutes or days that he was left alone. When the door finally did open it wasn't just Bones who entered, Cobra and Sangre were with her. She again turned on the lights and blinded him. Bones made a bee line for him, the other two followed behind her at a slower pace.

"Tell me what you know about the Lumen Histoire." She demanded.

"The what?" Gajeel was completely confused by the question.

"Lumen Histoire." She repeated.

"I heard you the first time." Gajeel snapped. "I ain't got any clue what you're talking about."

Bones looked at Cobra. He reluctantly stepped forward, one of his poison claws dug into Gajeel's arm. Gajeel grit his teeth and hissed in pain as the poison burned in his veins.

"Tell me about the Lumen Histoire." Bones demanded again.

Gajeel didn't answer, he had no information to give. He honestly has no idea what she was talking about. His refusal to answer only lead to pain. Bones carved up his flesh deeper than she ever had before. She would use Cobra's poison to cause diffuse pain. Even with the deep cut's Gajeel was barely bleeding, he didn't know why.

The questioning went on for hours, always around the same topic. Bones seemed almost frantic to get some answers. She was afraid and Gajeel could only assume it was because of the treat of Ivan visiting. Her stomach was starting to round, showing a hint at her pregnancy. Often her hands would protectively cover the small bump before her treatment of him became rougher.

As time went by Cobra's poison seemed to have less and less effect on Gajeel. After four doses he didn't even feel it anymore. He kept up the act though, worried that it would get worse if he didn't. Eventually he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open.

"Why won't you answer my questions?" Bones demanded.

"He doesn't know anything." Cobra insisted. "He's not acting confused; he has never heard of this thing."

"Makarov trusts him. If anyone knows it must be him. The old master was useless." She glared at Cobra. "Do it again."

"It will kill him." Cobra's voice was flat, disinterested.

"Cobra!" Bone's snapped at him. Gajeel felt the claw break his skin but instead of hot pain a cooling feeling of relief spread from the wound. Gajeel's breathing eased and he went limp.

"He needs rest, Mistress. Allow us to take care of him while you relax. It's best for the babies." Sangre said. It was the first time the child had spoken. Gajeel heard shuffling but couldn't get the energy needed to open his eyes to see what was happening. The door opened and closed and the room as a whole breathed a sigh of relief.

"He's going to live, right?" Sangre asked.

"Yeah, he's still awake too." Cobra responded. Gajeel heard the two moving around him.

 _You stopped poisoning me, why?_ Gajeel tried broadcasting his thoughts to Cobra.

"You die and I'm left alone with her again. I'm not that stupid." Cobra said.

"I'm not going to be able to last much longer." Sangre said, he was starting to sound short of breath.

 _What does that mean?_ Gajeel thought but Cobra didn't answer him. The room was quiet for several minutes. Gajeel forced his eyes to open and saw Cobra was looking off into the distance.

"Give me twenty minutes." Cobra said, leaving the room quickly.

-0-

Bones was pacing in her room. She was terrified. Ivan had been trying to contact her when she was on her last outing. When she returned he had been pissed and the lack of progress with any of the Fairy Tail mages had not helped. She had managed to capture Freed, one of Laxus' teammates in a hope of using him as bait. That had calmed Ivan down enough to keep him from coming right out to take over, but just barely. She needed to keep Ivan far away.

At one time Ivan had cared for her very much. He found her as a child and on finding out about her unique abilities he had taken her in and trained her like a daughter. He had just been kicked out of Fairy Tail, lost his son, and was a different man. She was there as he formed Raven Tail, saw as his obsession started to take over. As she grew and started to mature his feelings for her became less and less fatherly. He was a man of many obsessions. She had left the main guild ten years ago when Sangre had come into her life and kept her distance since.

Leaving Raven Tail hadn't been easy. She couldn't cut ties fully with Ivan, obviously, but she managed to convince him having a secret branch of the guild that couldn't be traced to him as a good idea. It had cost her in the guild. Only top member even knew of her existence. She didn't have access to the same resources she would have with the main guild. She hoped Kurohebi's child would change that, earn her some respect in the main guild. She just had to make it that far.

If Ivan came by now he would find out about her pregnancy. One thing Ivan did not tolerate was pregnancies in his guild. He saw children as a distraction, a weakness. A mother would put the welfare of her child above all, including him. Ivan couldn't allow that. Bones couldn't allow Ivan to stop her.

Bones jumped when someone knocked on her door. For a moment she was worried it was Ivan but knew that was ridiculous. Ivan wouldn't knock. She took a moment to calm her racing heart.

"Who's there?" She demanded.

"I thought you could use some help … Relaxing." Cobra said from the other side of the door. He tried using his best seductive voice. He didn't really have a seductive voice but he tried none the less.

Bones thought about sending him away but this was the first time Cobra had come to her of his own free will. She took it as a sign that maybe he was finally starting to accept his place. She had a small smile on her face as she opened the door.

"What about Kurogane?" She asked, leaning on the door frame so he couldn't enter.

Cobra shrugged. "Kid's watching him. He will be fine for a little while."

Bones thought for a few seconds before moving out of the way and allowing Cobra into the room.

Cobra walked in and took off his jacket. With Bones being gone so much Cobra had been able to better care of himself. He had regained the weight he loss from her starving him. He was still a sickly pale color from lack of sun but over all he was looking healthier. Bones came over and ran her hands up his arms.

"I love your skin." She commented, nearly purring.

Cobra suppressed the urge to move away from her. He never liked being touched. He could hear the thoughts and desires running though her mind but he didn't have time to follow her lead. "Lay down, let me massage out those sore muscles."

Bones didn't argue. She laid face down on her bed and Cobra came over and sat next to her, working on her shoulders. Cobra took his time and felt Bones relaxing under his touch. He was listening intently to the world outside. He could hear a storm in the distance getting closer. He waited until the storm was nearly on top of them before he made his move.

He acted quick without thought. If he thought about it he wouldn't be able to do it. His hands turned into poisoned claws and he dug them deep into Bones back. She screamed in pain and lashed out with her own claws, ripping open his chest. Cobra's hand covered his wound as he moved out of her reach. Bones tried to go after him but her knees bucked and pain exploded in her stomach.

"What have you done!" Bones screamed, holding her middle.

"Reclaimed my freedom." Cobra sounded in shock of what he had done. The dragon inside him was raging but he had years of practice subduing it. It took all his strength not to collapse in grief. He hadn't been able to inject enough poison to kill Bones, but there was more than enough to end her pregnancy. Cobra watched as her body trembled, she was sweating, screaming in pain and loss. He smelled blood as her body already tried to expel the dying tissue.

He was frozen, crying in stunned silence. He didn't move until he heard the fighting starting outside. The storm had arrived and he needed to get out.

-0-

Gajeel was fighting to stay conscious. He had this feeling that if he passed out he wouldn't wake again. Before that might have seemed like a blessing but now he had something he wanted to live for, he had a child. Not only did the child motivate him but he felt like something was about to happen, something big.

Sangre was leaning on the table next to Gajeel. He was starting to look pale. There was a sweat starting to break out on his brow. It almost looked like he had been running a marathon even though he hadn't seemed to be doing anything.

"What's wrong with you?" Gajeel asked. He wouldn't say he was worried, but he would really hate for this kid to die on him.

"I'm … I'm tired …" Sangre was panting. "Cobra better … hurry"

Gajeel was going to ask for more of an explanation but he was cut off by this deep emotional pain. Rage turned his vison white as his dragon roared inside him over and over drawing grief filled screams from his throat. He was screaming no over and over again. He felt like a part of himself had been ripped away. Something vital had been removed, like a lung. Somehow he knew, felt it in his soul, that his child was dying.

Gajeel fought his restraints. He tried breaking free harder than ever before. He needed to get to Bones. He needed to get to his child. While he was fighting the wounds that she had inflicted on him started to bleed. He lost blood at a shocking rate and withing seconds he passed out. He had been to busy freaking out to notice that Sangre had passed out as well.

If someone didn't come by soon, Gajeel would bleed out. Unfortunately the entirety of the base was otherwise occupied. There was no one left to save Gajeel.


	11. Chapter 11

Three days. It took three days to hunt down Freed. Three days to track down the bastards that took him. Three days that Laxus did not want to waste.

The task was simplified by knowing Freed was heading to mount Hakobe when he went missing. The problem was the mountain was a maze and they had no way of knowing if he actually made it there or not. They had been searching the mountain for three days before they finally got the lead they needed.

They were heading down a rarely used path when they heard voices up ahead. Bickslow, Evergreen and Laxus ducked behind some trees. Bickslow sent Poppo up ahead to do some scouting. Laxus could just make out what was being said.

"Do you really think Ivan is going to visit?" It was a woman speaking, she sounded excited.

"I hope so. I'm sure he will know how to get the script mage to talk." A second female voice said.

"Mistress is getting to focused on her pet. Freed is the one we need to be working on." The first voice said.

"I think we should have just killed them all" A man's voice said.

In the trees Laxus growled and took a step forward. Evergreen and Bickslow had to grab him to stop him from blowing their cover. Laxus had been increasingly short tempered since Freed went missing, and he wasn't known for his calm demeaner normally.

"I'll follow them. We'll find him." Bickslow whispered before he floated up high into the air on his remaining four totems.

Laxus knew Bickslow was right. Following them was the best plan. He just really hated waiting around. Over an hour passed while Bix was tracking the people they had found. Laxus was pacing at the tree line, Ever was blocking the path like she could keep him there. There was an electrical storm forming overhead, an outward sign of Laxus' agitation.

"Where the fuck is Bickslow!" He snapped when it had been close to two hours.

"He will be back." Evergreen said, she didn't look worried at all. "Please relax, if it starts to rain I will be very upset."

Laxus resisted the urge to snap at her. It wasn't Evergreens fault they were in this position. It wasn't Bickslow's either. He blamed himself.

Laxus knew that guild member were getting hurt. He had known it was only Fairy Tail that had been suffering these problems and he knew that meant Raven Tail was involved somehow. Laxus could have done something before it got to this, before Freed was among the missing, but he refused. He was angry at Makarov. Angry about how the old man had treated him after Tenrou, after he had been returned to the guild by Gildarts. Makarov was still angry with Laxus, used him like a tool during the games and tossed him aside after. The rest of the guild had accepted Laxus back but Makarov never did, probably never would.

He let his feelings about his grandfather cloud his judgment. Makarov had ordered them not to investigate, to let him and the Rune Knights handle everything. Laxus knew they couldn't but he wanted to watched Makarov fail. Wanted to wait for the old man to admit he had been wrong and ask for help. He just wanted that moment of satisfaction before hunting Ivan down and making him pay. He never imagined someone he cared about would get mixed up in this.

"I have good news and bad news" Bickslow said, seeming to appear out of nowhere, in truth Laxus had just been distracted.

"You found Freed?" Laxus asked, sounding a little to hopeful.

"Not exactly." Bickslow said, holding his hands up and taking a step back when Laxus growled at him. "Chill big guy, I found their hideout."

Laxus wanted to slap that grin off Bix's face, or at least pull his tongue out so it wouldn't be hanging out like that. Did he think this was some sort of game? With Bickslow, probably. Everything was a joke to him.

"That's something at least. Please tell me you go a look inside." Evergreen said.

"That's the bad news. Looks like they are hiding out in a cave. Only one way in or out that I could see." Bix told them. "No idea how many there is either. We could be walking into one hell of an ambush."

"Why do you seem excited about that?" Evergreen sounded annoyed.

Laxus looked up to the sky, thunder was rolling overhead. A cave system ment underground. Laxus didn't like underground. Especially with such an easy source of power forming above them. Laxus didn't like this, he didn't like it at all, but they had to save Freed. He had to save Freed.

"Lead the way Bix. And try to do it silently." Laxus said with a sigh.

"Yeah, let's go save your boyfriend." Bickslow tease, moving away quickly to head up the trail before Laxus could hit him.

They had a three-mile hike before they even got close to the cave. The freezing rain had started by then along with the lightning. Evergreen and Bickslow gave Laxus a wide berth as multiple bolts of lightning. Laxus was more than powered up as they approached to hideout.

"So what's the plan?" Evergreen asked. There was what looked to be a camp site set up out front with three men at it. Lookouts would be her guess.

Laxus didn't answer. He simply walked up to the camp. The three men seemed shocked to see him and scrambled to their feet.

"Hey, I thought you guy's might be looking for me." Laxus said before knocking all three out at the same time with a discharge of his built-up electricity.

"Or we could do that." Evergreen said, clearly disapproving.

"That was awesome." Bix said, laughing. "Lighten up a little, Ever."

"Are you two coming?" Laxus asked from where he was at the entrance to the cave. His two teammates hurried over to his side.

Getting inside was surprisingly easy. There was about fifty feet of natural cave that then suddenly shifted to man made tunnels. There was no further guards in the entrance and they made it about a hundred feet before they met resistance. There was over a dozen people that ran up to stop them. Out of that only three appeared to be mages. The walls of the tunnel made a great surface to bounce magic off of and Bickslow and Laxus took care of the group easily.

As they continued down the hall they check the occasional room that branched off. Most had one to four people inside that were quickly dealt with. They eventually came to a four-way intersection.

"What way now boss?" Bix asked, his totems were venturing out down the different paths but they weren't able to go far from their master.

Laxus looked down each of his choices. He didn't know where to go. They could split up, there had yet to be any real threat, but that didn't mean there wasn't a trap set for them somewhere. As he was trying to think he caught site of someone down the left hallway running to them. The man was covered in blood coming from a wound on his chest. He had dark skin, maroon hair and a scared face. Laxus knew he had seen him on wanted posters from years ago and then more recently after a prison break. It was Cobra from the Oracion Seis.

"Hurry, or your friend is going to die." Cobra shouted at them. All three looked at each other confused as he turned and ran back down the hall.

"You don't think he mean …" Evergreen started

"Freed." Laxus growled, running off after Cobra, forcing his teammates to follow after him.

They followed Cobra down several hallways and into a room. Once Laxus crossed into the room he stopped dead in his tracks. The stench was like running into a brick wall. It was a combination of old rancid blood, human waste, infection, and rotting flesh. It smelled worse than death and left Laxus gagging.

"Oh god." Evergreen said, covering her nose. "What happened in here?"

"I think the better question is what didn't happen." Bickslow said, he was also covering his nose as he walked farther into the room. "Boss, you're going to want to see this."

In the middle of the room, secured to a metal table was Gajeel. He was naked, thin, pale and the source of the horrendous smell. He had bloody cloth hastily wrapped around different parts of his body but it was clear the wounds underneath were still bleeding. Fresh blood covered the table Gajeel was on and dripped to the floor where it mixed with old congealed blood and other body fluids. On the ground next to Gajeel, Cobra was leaning over a boy who was passed out.

"Fuck." Laxus said as he rushed over, trying not to breathe. One look at Gajeel told him the man wasn't going to make it back to Magnolia, they had to do something quickly. He hurried to remove the sealstone restraints, laying Gajeel's arms by his side and throwing his coat over Gajeel to cover him. "Evergreen, I need you over here."

"I would rather stay here, with the fresh air." Evergreen said from the doorway.

"Evergreen!" Laxus snapped resulting in Evergreen walking over to them. Laxus pried Gajeel's eyes open, they looked glassy as he stared into nothing. "You need to turn him to stone."

"Good idea, you can't bleed out if you're a statue." Bickslow said. Evergreen just rolled her eyes at him before she lifted her glasses up and looked into Gajeel's eyes. Instantly him and the coat over him turned to stone.

"You'll find the rest of your Fairy friends back the way we came, at the far end of the hall take a right on then your second left." Cobra told them. He had been moving around the room while they had been focused on Gajeel. He had grabbed the cuffs Gajeel had been wearing and put them on the kid who was still on the ground. "Take the brat with you."

"Why are you helping us?" Evergreen asked, looking at him suspiciously, her glasses back in place.

"I ain't doing it for you." Cobra inclined his head to Gajeel. "If he survives than he's going to owe me, big time."

"What's with the kid?" Bickslow asked as he pick the kid up off the floor, tossing him over his shoulder.

Before Cobra could answer, not that he was going to, an alarm went off, echoing down the long hallways. Cobra and Laxus both had to cover their ears against the sudden loud noise.

"We have to get moving." Laxus said. "Bix, can you get Gajeel and the kid out?"

"No problem." Bix was already working to get his Babies under the statue of Gajeel to carry him out.

"Me and Evergreen will get the others and meet out at the entrance." Laxus said.

"What about …" Evergreen started to ask about Cobra but when she turned to face where he had been standing, but Cobra was gone. "Never mind…"

Laxus didn't have time to worry about prison escapees, he needed to get to Freed. He appeared calmer now that they were close to finding him but seeing what they had done to Gajeel only increased his fear over Freed. He raced back down the hall, following Cobra's directions, Evergreen on his heels. They were stopped by over two dozen men at the intersection where they had run into Cobra at initially.

"Hey boy." Evergreen said, stepping in front of Laxus and pulling her glasses down the bridge of her noise. The first two rows, about ten men, turned to stone.

"Don't look in her eyes, you morons!" Someone in the back yelled. That had the predictable response of everyone either looking to the ground or shutting their eyes. That allowed the next group of a dozen men to be taken out easily before the handful that was left got the courage to look at Evergreen again.

"You go ahead, I got this." Evergreen told Laxus.

Laxus thought about staying to help, he could hear more men approaching from the left hallway, but he trusted Evergreen to take care of herself. He pushed through a hole and ran off towards the cells.

It wasn't hard to tell when he found the right room. There was two guards outside the door that Laxus quickly knocked out with a bolt of lightning. Inside was a long hall with bared cells on each side. In the first cell on his right was Warren, on his left was Laki and Chico. The three were dirty and pale from being underground for so long but looked to be in good condition. The three of them running to the bars when they saw him.

"Laxus, am I ever happy to see you." Warren said. "Get us out of here, man."

Laxus ignored them. He needed to find the keys and find Freed. He continued down the corridor. The next two cells were empty. The next cell on his right side had Macao inside. He was sitting on the floor against the back wall. He looked like he had been on the losing end of a fight, bruised and bloody with a black eye. When he tried to stand up he didn't put weight on his right leg.

"I knew you would show up. How about helping an old guy out?" Macao said, he wasn't able to get to fully standing and ended up sitting back down.

"Yeah, I'll be right with you." Laxus muttered. The next cell had clearly been modified with extra bar put in to keep Lily from slipping out. He was sitting calmly on the cot that served as a bed, even as Laxus approached.

"Have you found Gajeel yet?" Lily asked, standing up on the cot.

"Yeah, it's not pretty." He told him. "I got to find some keys."

"They are down here." Laxus snapped his attention to the end of the corridor where Freed's voice had come from. On the far wall was another door and a set of keys' hanging up. Laxus did his best to remain calm and not run to Freed, a feat he just managed to do.

"Are you alright?" Laxus asked, looking into the last cell on the left that had Freed inside. Freed looked mostly alright. His clothes were dirty and his hair a little frizzy. He had a split lip but otherwise looked unharmed.

"Embarrassed mostly. Are Bickslow and Evergreen with you?" Freed asked. He was the first person Laxus had seen that was chained. He had a chain running from his left ankle to the back wall. It allowed him enough room to get to the bed and a bucket that was used as a toilet but he couldn't get close to the bars. Laxus also noticed they had removed his saber; it was leaning on the wall outside the cell.

"Bix is taking a couple of injured out. Ever should be catching up to me shortly. Who hurt you?" Laxus asked. He was just keeping a hold on his anger. Honestly if it wasn't for the angsty teenage years he had and the anger management they gave him, he would be losing his shit right then.

Freed touched his lip tenderly. "I'll be fine."

"This is all lovely, but I would really like to get out of here!" Macao said from his cell, "Preferably before someone shows up."

Laxus was annoyed by Macao's outburst but knew the man was right. When he turned to get the key from the wall he caught a glimpse into the cell across from Freed. Inside was the new guild member that Freed had been going on the job with. She was on the tall side for a woman with long pink hair that was currently a matted mess. She normally wore brightly colored dresses; you could barely make out the red color with all the dirt caked into it. She was curled up on the floor, crying quietly to herself. She had bruises on her arms and legs. For the life of him, Laxus couldn't remember her name.

"Hey, Pinky, you alright?" He asked, she didn't answer.

"She's been like that for a while. They took her away earlier for hours and when she came back …" Freed told him. "I failed in my duty to protect her."

Laxus thought about the room Gajeel had been in. How he had been tied down naked and the assortment of body fluids. He looked again at the bruises the girl had, it brought a whole new meaning to them and only served to enrage Laxus further.

Laxus grab the keys off the wall and yanked open the cell Pinky was in. She flinched a little at the sudden loud noise. She looked up at him and scooted a little away from him.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not like those bastards. Are you able to walk?" Laxus asked her. He knelt down as he spoke so he wouldn't be looming over her as much. Pinky shook her head at him. Laxus reached out for her but she moved away, not letting him touch her.

"You do scare all women like this or just the smart ones?" Laxus was startled by Evergreen's voice behind him.

"Good you're here. Help out Pinky." Laxus ordered as he got up and started unlocking the other cells.

Everyone had magic canceling cuffs on that were easy to remove. Freed and Evergreen helped Pinky up and to walk, supporting her on each side. She was doubled over and looked to be in a lot of pain. Laxus and Lily, in his battle form, helped support Macao off his broken leg. Laxus lead the way back to the entrance of the cave.

Near the entrance Laxus noticed Bickslow had been busy. The people they had subdued during the search had been gathered in one area and secured together with robe. Back out in daylight they found Bickslow, the Gajeel statue, and the unconscious child in the decoy campsite. Bickslow was rummaging around looking through the supplies.

"Rune Knights are on their way." Bickslow told them. "Found a communication Lacrima when snooping around and gave them a call. Boy, was Mest pissed." Bickslow chuckled to himself, his babies chanting 'pissed' as the floated around him.

Laxus sat Macao mostly gently on the ground. He found two appropriately sized sticks so he could make a splint for him leg. Macao cursed and yelled at him in pain but Laxus didn't much care. While he worked on stabilizing the leg he gave orders.

"I'll stay here and explain things. Bix, Ever, Freed, you get everyone back to Fairy Tail. I want everyone looked over by Wendy or Porlyusica. And I mean everyone." Laxus gave a pointed look to Freed.

"What happened to Gajeel?" Lily asked. He was standing over the Gajeel statue.

"A whole lot of bad." Bix said. "You know what's up with the kid?"

"His name's Sangre. He was sort of our keeper. Tasked with keeping everyone alive." Lily explained. After Lily had been moved to the cells with everyone else he had continued to see Sangre. The kid had continued to give him some updates on Gajeel, mostly just he was still alive. He was the one that took the time to modify a cell and allow Lily out of his cage. He even managed to sneak in a few kiwi's for him. He had taken good care of all of them. "He's a good kid."

"If you say so." Bix said, shrugging.

The group took some time to get situated in the camp. They bandaged some wounds, found some food and water to take with them and mostly got use to being in the outdoors again. After a few minutes they were ready to head back to Magnolia. Lily insisted on carrying the Gajeel statue, it was awkward but he was the only one really able to handle the weight outside of Bickslow's totems and that wasn't stable for long travel. Freed and Evergreen help to support Macao on the hike down the mountain.

"The names Arianna, right?" Bickslow asked, kneeling in front of Pinky. She nodded, looking like she might get sick.

"Would it be cool if I carried you down?" He asked her. She looked unsure but nodded again. Bix turned around so that she could climb on his back. "Just don't get sick on me, deal?"

"Now how did you manage that?" Laxus asked, surprised that the girl was actually wrapped around Bix.

"What can I say, the ladies love me, man." Bix said with his characteristic grin.

Evergreen smacked him on the shoulder with her fan. Bickslow just grinned more. Laxus could only shake his head at the antics of his friends.

"Someone needs to take the kid. I'm not handing him over." Laxus stated to the group at large.

"Why not. Bastard should pay for what he's done." Macao complained.

"He's just a kid, man. What if it was Romeo?" Chico said, going over and picking Sangre up. "We should help him."

As he watched the group leave and head down the mountain he found himself torn between wanting to run after them and make sure they stayed safe and his responsibility to be there when Mest showed up. Unfortunately Laxus was really working on being more responsible. All her could do was watch his friends and guildmates leave and hope they got home safely.


	12. Chapter 12

Romeo was waiting at the edge of town for Laxus to return with his father. He had posted himself in the same spot since Laxus had left. It was getting late, the sun was setting, and he was about to give up hope for yet another day. He grabbed his bag and got ready to head home when Bickslows totems flew in front of him stopping him from leaving. Romeo spun around and saw the tattered group coming out of the forest trail.

"Dad!" Romeo shouted as he ran right for his father. His hug knocked Macao off balance and both men fell to the ground.

"Ow, hey, take it easy on your old man." Macao complained lightheartedly, having managed to fall on his uninjured side.

"I can't believe you guys are back!" Romeo was still holding on tight to his father.

"Romeo, we need to get your father and the others to the guild. Can you go get Polyusica for us?" Evergreen asked him nicely. It was only then that Romeo seemed to see the injuries of his assorted guildmates.

"Are you okay?" He asked his father.

"I'll be fine. I'll meet you and Polyusica at the guild hall." Macao told him in a slightly pointed tone. Romeo nodded at him and ran off towards Polyusica's.

Lily carried Gajeel into the guild infirmary and carefully placed him on one of the beds. Macao, Arianna, and Sangre were placed on near by beds. The rest of the newly freed guild members each sat on their own beds as well. They had gained a lot of attention when they walked into the guild hall and now most of the guild was gathered around the doors to the infirmary. Wendy and Carla pushed their way in to see how they could help.

"Is anyone hurt? I can heal you." Wendy said, rushing over to help, Carla flying behind her.

"Gajeel got the worse of it, but he is in stasis for now. Macao and Arianna are the next two that got the brunt of it." Bickslow told her. "Take a look at them first."

Wendy nodded and went over to Arianna first. "I got this."

"Don't touch me!" Arianna shouted and moved away from Wendy. "I'm fine."

Wendy was a little taken aback. Arianna was new to the guild and for some reason she had never gotten along with Wendy, or any of the Exceed's for that matter, but Wendy didn't see why she wouldn't let her help.

"She is just trying to help you. I don't see why you have to be so rude about it." Carla chastised Arianna.

"I didn't ask for help." Arianna said.

Evergreen came over and sat on the end of the bed, Arianna was huddled up near the head. The two women had gotten along surprisingly well up to this point. "You look awful. Let me clean you up while we wait for Polyusica."

Arianna glared at Wendy before she moved down to be closer to Evergreen who started brushing out her hair. She saw Evergreen like a big sister and would listen to her.

Wendy moved on to look at the others. She fixed up Macao's leg and looked over everyone else, fixing the minor scraps and injuries she found. She was just finishing up with Freed when Polyusica showed up, having to push her way through the crowed.

"Give us some space." Polyusica snapped as she entered the room. She made her way over to Gajeel, Wendy running over to her side.

"I've got this. He will be feeling better in no time. I just need Evergreen to return him to normal." Wendy said.

A large number of people had gathered in the small infirmary. Makarov was there of course along with the entirety of Laxus' team. Natsu, Erza, Lucy, and Gray were in one corner, the latter three attempting to keep Natsu out of the way. Jet and Droy were hanging out by the door, the former looking ready to bolt as soon as it was socially appropriate to do so. Levy was sitting on the bed across from the one Gajeel was in. She was pretending to look over Lily, who was uninjured, but her eyes were fixed on Gajeel's lifeless form.

"What are all you standing around for? If you're not hurt, get out. I can't stand the smell of ya." Polyusica snapped.

Jet was the first person out of the room. With a bit more not so gentle prodding everyone else filed out as well. Soon only Makarov, Lily, and Levy were the only uninjured left in the room. Arianna and Sangre were still on their respective beds. Levy had given up any pretense of looking over Lily and now sat with him in her lap, holding him like a protective teddy bear.

"He's been hurt really bad. This might take a minute." Wendy said as she started taking in the number of injuries. Evergreen had come over to release Gajeel from her spell but hesitated, looking unsurely at Wendy.

"You do that, and you are going to kill him." Sangre's raspy voice came from the bed behind Evergreen.

Wendy and Evergreen both jumped, surprised the boy was awake. Evergreen turned on her heels to look at him. Asking in a condescending voice, "What does that mean?"

"It means he will bleed out before blueberry over there has any hope of healing him." Sangre tone of voice was like he was speaking to a child, a stupid child. That fact did not go over Evergreens head as she scoffed and stuck her nose up at him.

"The kid is right." Polyusica said, getting everyone's attention. "It's a miracle he has lasted this long. Without the petrification spell he will bleed out in under a minute."

"Can you help him?" Lily asked Sangre. "You were ordered to keep him alive. Are you going to break that order?"

Sangre looked at Lily and then up to look at Levy. She was trying to keep her expression neutral and failing miserably. She was clearly worried about Gajeel. It showed around her eyes and at the rigid way she was sitting. Sangre was a little taken aback by how much she did resemble his mistress. He could understand Gajeel's initial confusion now.

"What's in it for me?" Sangre asked. He held up his arms that were still bound with magic canceling cuffs. "You are just going to hand me over to the Ruin Knights when this is all over."

"I will insure your protection. You are but a child and not responsible for the actions of those around you." Makarov said, his tone taking a threatening note for his next remark. "But if I find you were able to help and chose not to, that is a choice you will face the consequences for."

"Please help him." Levy begged in a quiet tone.

"Sangre … you were always nice to us … please help." Arianna said in a whispered voice.

"Please child." Carla pleaded.

"You are all so pathetic." Sangre said, rolling his eyes at them. "Fine, but first the cuffs…"

Makarov inclined his head to Evergreen who removed the cuffs. "Next, I need something from her." Sangre pointed at Levy as he got out of bed.

"Me? What could you need from me?" Levy asked as Sangre came to stand in front of her.

Sangre held out his hand as if to shake hers and on instinct Levy took it. Sangre grabbed on painfully tight to her wrist, and in a move almost to fast to be seen he pulled a small knife out of his pocket and cut open Levy's forearm. He used the hold on her wrist to keep her from moving away. Blood started to pour out of the cut. There was loud commotion as everyone tried to figure out what was going on.

"One vampire joke and I let him die." Sangre warned before he pulled Levy's arm to his mouth and started sucking on the wound. Levy was in utter shock as she watched him lick up the blood on her arm. When he let go, she snatched her arm back, coving the wound with her other hand.

"Who are you?" She asked, more than a little disturbed.

"I'm Sangre Dreyar, Blood Dragon Slayer." He gave her a blood tinged smile. Gasps of surprise echoed around the room and honestly Sangre loved it. He didn't know what they were reacting to, his actions, the name he had given, or his power. He loved the idea of keeping them off balance and he had just achieved that with a few simple words. "Thanks for the snack."

Sangre wiped his mouth and walked back over to Gajeel's bed. "You can remove the spell now. I will be able to keep him from bleeding until Blueberry fixes him."

Evergreen looked slightly disgusted with him but did as he said. Once the spell was lifted Gajeel gasped for breath. His wounds bled for only a second before Sangre touched his hand and the bleeding stopped.

Wendy placed her hands over Gajeel's chest to start healing him but before her magic activated, she pulled her hands back like she was burned, a dragon like snarl emanating from her as she curled her lip. All heads in the room snapped up to look at her. No one had ever heard such a noise come from their little Wendy.

"What's wrong child?" Carla asked as she bolted over to Wendy. The white Exceed did a quick check over her charge to make sure she hadn't been injured.

"I don't know." Wendy shook her head to try and clear it before taking a step towards Gajeel again. When her eyes landed on him, she let out a low growl. Her eyes fixated on the burn mark on Gajeel's neck. Something about it made her vision turn red and overwhelmed her with fear and anger. She turned her back on Gajeel and covered her face in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I can't do this." She said, sounding ready to cry.

"If you're not going to help than get out." Polyusica said, pushing her way past Wendy. She looked up at Sangre as Wendy rushed out of the room, Carla chasing after her. "How long can you keep him like this?"

"Indefinitely as long as I have a food source." Sangre said as if it was nothing. In truth it was a struggle to fully control someone's circulatory system. He had to keep blood going to all the vital organs while avoiding the numerous injuries that Bones had inflicted. There was nearly no blood flow to his legs due to the large wounds to the major artery there. Something about it must have shown on his face or maybe Polyusica was just smart enough to know better.

"If you are going to hang around, make yourself useful." She shot a glance at Levy as she pulled off the blood-soaked coat that was coving Gajeel. "I'm going to need some help cleaning these wounds and getting them bandaged.

Levy jumped at the chance to help instead of being kicked out like the rest of the guild. Levy's mouth dropped open as she got her first look at the extent of the injuries Gajeel had suffered. Lacerations in different states of healing covered his chest, arms, stomach, heading even lower than Levy dared look. There were bite marks on his shoulders, neck, chest. Small holes that oozed blood were placed in places that, thanks to reading anatomy books, Levy knew were over pressure points. His wrists had deep cuts from where he had been fighting against his bindings. There was a mark on his neck that looked like a brand. It was in the shape of an egg with a bone symbol in the center. Levy didn't know what that meant but she didn't like it.

It took the two ladies' hours to get everything cleaned and bandaged. Sangre directed them to the most serious injuries first, starting with the ones on his legs. Levy's first view of a naked Gajeel was a bloody one. He had deep cuts on the inside of his thighs and jagged holes in his hip, three on each side. It took Levy a few minutes before she understood those were caused by Gajeel's studs being torn out. Her heart broke for the battered and abused man. They rinsed dirt and dead flesh out of the wounds, in some cases there was even pieces of bone that didn't seem to belong to Gajeel in the wounds.

Makarov took Lily out halfway through the process to debrief him on what happened. Levy suspected he couldn't handle seeing the damage that had been done any longer. Part of Levy was furious with her master for putting Gajeel into this position. She heavily blamed him for sending Gajeel to face Raven Tail with only Lily as protection. Every time she moved to a new injury that anger received a dose of gut-wrenching pain. She made it through the entire thing without crying by sheer force of will. She knew if she let her emotions get the better of her Polyusica would kick her out.

"I'm getting a little worn out." Sangre warned them about the time Makarov left. He looked up at Levy. "I need more blood."

"Gajeel is covered in it. Get some that way." She snapped at him. Gajeel was coated in dried blood but there was some fresh blood as well. Sangre had to allow blood flow in check if they had stitched wounds closed well enough, and they didn't always succeed the first time.

"His blood is tainted with infection and Cobra's poison. It would make me sick." He told them, again managing to sound annoyed. "I need clean fresh blood."

Levy looked highly aggravated with him. She had bandaged the cut he gave her earlier. She didn't know what had happened to Gajeel, but she knew this kid had been there, had let it happen, maybe even helped. She didn't think it was possible for her to hate someone, but she hated him.

"That won't be necessary." Polyusica said. As if that was a cue, Evergreen snapped the magic canceling cuffs back on Sangre who tried to fight her hold. Gajeel started bleeding as soon as the cuffs were on, but it was only a small amount from a few injuries that they had not gotten to yet or hadn't closed on their own.

"What's going on? The old man said you wouldn't turn me over!" Sangre struggled against Evergreen, but she was older and stronger, and he was weak from helping Gajeel.

"No one ever said you were free to go." Evergreen pointed out. "You're our prisoner now. Be grateful we are nicer than Raven Tail." She took the no longer fighting Sangre to the guild cells to be dealt with by Makarov later.

"He will need rest now. Change his bandages twice a day. Make sure he eats some iron when he wakes up, it will help restore his magic energy and heal his wounds faster." Polyusica told Levy once they had finished bandaging the remaining wounds.

"You're not going to check on him?" Levy asked, concern in her voice.

"I trust you to handle it. If he needs my assistance you all know where to find me." The elderly women sounded annoyed by that fact. Without another word she left Levy alone with Gajeel. Arianna had left not long after Sangre and Evergreen, having said something about wanting to be alone.

Levy checked to make sure Gajeel was covered well enough with the blanket. The women had forgone putting clothes on him, and Levy was sure Gajeel would not want anyone seeing him naked. After she was sure he was comfortable, or at least looked comfortable, she used her light pen to make a Solid Script: Iron and placed it on the bedside table. She tried to ignore the fact the center of the "O" was in the shape of a heart like it always was when she made up iron for Gajeel.

She was sitting on the edge of his bed, holding his hand, letting everything sink in when she heard the door open behind her. The noise from the guild fluttered in with whoever entered. The guild was celebrating the safe return of its members … well maybe not safe return, but they were all here in mostly one piece. She didn't look to see who it was; she didn't care right then. Not even Jet would be able to pull her away from Gajeel until she was sure he would be alright.

"How is he? Wendy is really upset." It was Lucy's voice that spoke from the doorway.

"He would be better if she would heal him." Levy was shocked at the amount of venom in her own voice.

"She can't get near him, Lev. She said when she does, she feels angry and she doesn't know why." Lucy said in a calm voice, walking towards Gajeel's bed. "You know she would help if she could."

"It's bad, Lu-Lu, really bad. There's almost no where left untouched. They sliced him up, tortured him. A lot of the wounds are infected. They ripped out some of his piercings, Lu. There are chunks of flesh missing." Levy sounded hysteric as she turned bleary eyes to Lucy. She didn't have to hide her feelings from Lucy, she was her best friend and could already guess how much Gajeel meant to her.

Lucy put her arm around Levy and pulled her into a hug. "He will be okay. It takes a hell of a lot more to take down a Dragon-Slayer. Some of the things Natsu has survived …" She gave Levy a weak smile. "This is nothing."

Levy retuned the smile. "Thanks Lu."

"What are best friends for." Lucy said before her look turned a little sheepish. "Jet is looking for you."

Levy had the good grace to look guilty. "I can't leave. What if Gajeel wakes up? Polyusica entrusted me with his care."

"Do you want me to tell Jet that?" Lucy asked. Judging by the look she got the answer was no. "Look, I know I'm not good at this type of thing, this is really Cana's thing, but what's going on Lev? I thought you and Jet were happy."

"We are!" She answered much to quickly with a big scoop of desperate denial. "I mean … I never … I wouldn't … Jet knows … how I feel, that is."

"If you love Gajeel, then why are you dating Jet?" Lucy asked.

"Jet is a good man. He takes good care of me and he loves me. I don't want to hurt him." Levy looked down at Gajeel, taking his hand again. "Why should I hurt Jet and ruin our friendship over something I can't have?"

"Who says you can't have him?" Lucy asked. Levy didn't answer. She didn't want to get into this discussion. There was a list of a hundred reasons why Gajeel wouldn't want to be with her. She was short and weak being the top of the list. There was a list equally as long to why she should be happy with Jet. Of course, emotions weren't as logical as Levy's mind wished they were.


	13. Chapter 13

Gajeel was asleep for the past four days. Levy or Lily had been by his side the entire time. Lily had gone home the first night, saying he wanted to prepare the house for Gajeel, but he hadn't left the guild since. Levy wanted to stay by Gajeel's side, but she was worried the guild would start to talk. When Lily was around, she would make appearances in the main part of the guild.

When she was in front of people she acted like the caring girlfriend. She would eat dinner with Jet, snuggle in his arms, kiss him. In many ways she was being overly affectionate to Jet. She didn't work on any translations or do any reading when she was with him. It was out of guilt, guilt that she would rather be sitting watch over Gajeel. At night she slept in the infirmary with Gajeel Lily. Only Makarov knew about that.

Panther Lily would help Levy when it came time to change Gajeel's bandages. Levy had a million questions about what happened, but she couldn't bring herself to ask. Lily had volunteered some information to her. He told her how they had been looking for information about Fairy Tail. Told her how Gajeel and him had been captured thanks to Cobra and how he had almost died due to Cobra's poisoning. Lily had learned from the Thunder Legion that Cobra was the reason they found Gajeel in time to save him. There was a good chance that Gajeel wouldn't have made it out alive if not for Cobra. But then, he wouldn't have been captured if it wasn't for Cobra, so Levy didn't particularly feel like she owed the man anything.

Levy and Lily were in the middle of Gajeel's morning bandage change on the fifth day when he finally came around. The first thing Gajeel experienced on regaining consciousness was pain. The pain that had become his life. His chest burned with every breath, his limbs felt like pins and needles, his stomach cramped in hunger at the scent of iron in the air. Part of him had hoped Cobra had killed him, but he was still in his hell.

He could smell stale blood mixing with fresh. Could smell iron nearby and prayed they would allow him just a bite or two. He didn't know how much longer they could withhold food before he starved to death. He could smell Lily nearby for the first time in … to long. All the blood he smelt belonged to him so, thankfully, they were still leaving the Exceed alone. He could also smell _her_. The scent was so similar to Levy's, but he had long ago accepted that it wasn't his sweet bookworm he was smelling and instead the cruel women from his past.

The next sensation to assault his was the feeling of hands on him. It made his skin crawl and muscles tense. He was sick of people touching him. If he went the rest of his life without being touched, he would be more than happy with it. Each touch, each brush across his skin brought him more pain, more self-loathing. He felt small, famine hands moving down his stomach to his hips. He growled low in his chest. Not again, he was tired of being used. He gathered as much strength as he could, intending to fight against his restraints again, only this time there was no restraints.

Gajeel launched himself off the bed and knocked the offending women to the floor. He didn't have the strength to hold himself up and ended up unintendedly pinning her to the floor with his body. He quickly grabbed her wrists and held her arms pinned to the ground beside her head. His arms were shaking as he held himself up enough to look at Bones trapped under him.

"You're going to regret freeing me." He snarled at her. He was always taken aback by how much she looked like Levy. Even now the look of worry and pity on her face gave him pause. She looked so much like Levy and he didn't want to hurt Levy.

"Gajeel, let her go. You're safe now." Lily's words echoed distantly in Gajeel's head. He was still staring down at the women trapped beneath him, Bones. He frowned as he looked at her. Was her hair always this long? It flowed in waves around her head. He could feel the softness under his hands where he held her pinned. She didn't have that cocky smile she always wore, and she wasn't trying to overpower him, something she could have done easy. No, instead she was looking up at him with pleading brown eyes. _Brown eyes? Levy has brown eyes_. He thought to himself.

"Gajeel, it's just me, Levy. I was changing your bandages. You're bleeding." Her voice was like soft music to his ears. He stopped growling and leaned closer to better get a scent off her. Old books, jasmine, Levy, not a hint of lavender. Underneath he could smell cinnamon and sandalwood, the mix was uniquely Jet. This was the real, true thing.

In the blink of an eye Gajeel was gathering Levy into his arms. He fell back onto his butt and leaned against the bed for support. He kept Levy tight in his arms, crushed against his chest. She was forced to straddle his lap. He had one arm like a steel beam across her back, holding her to his chest. The other was tangled in her hair while his face was pressed into the crook of her neck, breathing in her scent. His entire body was trembling.

Levy didn't know what to do. When she tried to touch him, he flinched away from her. She looked to Lily for some help, but he just shrugged and turned back into his little form. Levy leaned into Gajeel then, following his lead. She would nuzzling him whenever he nuzzled her. She ran her fingers through his hair, and it seemed to help calm him some. He stopped tumbling and his hold loosened as long as she didn't try to move away.

"What happen?" She asked in a soft voice. Gajeel still flinched and tightened his hold to be almost bone breaking. She felt something wet against her cheek and realized Gajeel was crying. Levy didn't push after that. She gave him as much time as he needed to calm down. After what felt like a lifetime, he let her go.

"Let's get you back into bed and finish with your bandages." Lily said softly. Gajeel didn't say anything, allowing the exceed to help move him back onto the bed. Levy now had blood on her dress, but no one commented on it. Gajeel just laid in bed while Levy bandaged him, helping how he could.

Levy finished bandaging his stomach and hips. Most of the cuts had closed up by now and the small punctures were completely gone. The worst injuries were still where his studs had been ripped out and the deep marks on his inner legs. She took great care in cleaning the holes before bandaging them. They were going to scare badly but she was trying to minimize it.

Gajeel was tense as Levy took the bandages off his legs. She tried to be careful now that he was awake, but she knew it still had to hurt. Dried blood caused the bandages to stick and pull at the still infected wounds. "I'm sorry. I'm trying to be gentle."

"You're fine." Gajeel said through clenched teeth. He tried to push away the feelings that were forming in him. Levy was trying to help him she wasn't looking to use him. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore what she was doing. Any time Levy's hand would accidentally brush against his dick he would flitch and jerk away with a snarl. The third time this happened he moved fully away from her, something that took more strength than he really had.

"Would you stop messing around!" He snapped, his hands moving to cover himself.

"I'm not trying to hurt you. This needs to be done." Levy shot back at him frustration evident in her voice. If she didn't clean the wounds, he would get sick and could die from it. She didn't have a choice.

"You don't need to be fondling me!" He ripped the bandages out of her hands and started rewrapping his own legs with shaky hands. He had his back to Levy now, unable to face her.

"I … I wasn't … I didn't mean to do that. I'm just trying to help." Levy said in a small voice. She honestly hadn't been trying to feel him up or anything. She had become accustomed to his naked body over the last few days and didn't even notice it anymore.

"I don't need your help." Gajeel spat out.

"Gajeel, Levy has been working hard to get you better. Maybe you should be a little nicer to her." Lily tired being the voice of reason.

"I don't want her help." Gajeel said. His hands were shaking so much that he ended up dropping the bandages while trying to switch legs.

"Gajeel, please, let me help." Levy said, grabbing the dropped bandages and moving between his legs on the floor to try and help.

"Don't fucking touch me!" Gajeel shoved her away from him. He knew it was Levy and that she wasn't going to take advantage of him but the visual of Bones between his legs, her hands on his body, it was too strong, too fresh for him to ignore. He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, trying to fight back the memories. Bones body moving over his, her hands on his chest, spreading the blood she enjoyed spilling. The look of pleasure on her face as she used him, raped him, over and over.

Levy looked up at him from where she was now sitting on her ass on the floor. "Gajeel … what …" Her question died in her throat as she saw Lily shaking his head. She didn't understand what was going on. When she got up and reached for Gajeel, Lily again shook his head and stopped her.

"I'll … I'll go change I guess." She said after standing in awkward silence for a few minutes. She gestured to her bloodstained dress as if she needed to explain before she walked slowly to the door.

Gajeel didn't relax until after he heard the door close and he was alone with Lily. He laid back down on the bed and didn't say anything as Lily finished dressing his wounds. A small smile pulled at his lips when he spotted the Solid Script: Iron next to the bed. He pulled it closer and nibble at it slowly.

"You should have been nicer to her. She has been doing a lot to help you out these last few days." Lily scolded Gajeel.

"Shut it." Gajeel grumbled around a mouthful of iron. He knew he had been overly aggressive to Levy and already felt guilty about it. He felt raw right now, physically and emotionally. He knew Levy was just trying to help him, but he didn't think he could handle being around anyone other than Lily at the moment.

The guild was packed when Levy walked out of the infirmary. She hadn't realized how much time had passed while she was with Gajeel and the guild was now in the middle of its lunch rush. Guildmembers were getting back from out of town, others were looking to start new jobs, the members that slept in or over drank the night before were finally meandering in. All in all, the guild was never busier than it was at lunch.

"Oh, Levy, I didn't know you were here. Can I get you anything?" Mira asked as she walked past holding a tray with loaded with beer mugs. She frowned as she took in Levy's sad expression and bloody clothes. "Is everything alright with Gajeel?"

Levy forced a smile onto her face. "Yeah, he just woke up. Was a little confused about where he was. This is his blood. I'm going to run home and change." She was rambling a little bit, pointing at the blood on her dress.

"Gajeel's awake!" Macao shouted. He was sitting at the closest table with Cana and Wakaba.

"It's about time. He was starting to worry us." Wakaba said.

"Hey Mira, bring on the beer!" Cana shouted. Mira put her tray down on the table where the three each grabbed a mug.

"Maybe I should check on him …" Mira said, looking concededly at the infirmary door.

"No!" Levy said a little too quickly, getting looks from everyone nearby. "I mean … He needs time to rest."

No one questioned her explanation and soon the party had started to celebrate Gajeel's recovery. Really the guild would take any excuse to party, so it wasn't that surprising. Levy almost made it out the door without being caught again, but Jet was waiting for her there.

"Are you hurt?" Jet asked, looking worriedly over her, checking for injuries.

"No, he didn't hurt me." Levy insisted. She had to grab both his hands to get him to focus and stop looking over her for injuries.

"Jet, he is still too weak to hurt anyone. He fell out of bed while I was changing his bandages and I got blood on me helping him up." Levy was a little surprised how easy the lies came to her and she wasn't even sure why she was hiding what happened, but she felt she needed too. Lately her life had been full of white lies and half-truths, all directed at Jet.

"I don't see why you have to be the one helping him." Jet grumbled.

"We've talked about this." She sighed. This had been an ongoing argument for the last few days. Jet thought Gajeel was dangerous, that he might hurt her. Levy tried to argue that Gajeel wasn't like that anymore, but Jet would just bring up how Gajeel had almost killed him. Levy didn't have an answer to that, but she knew in her heart that wasn't who Gajeel was anymore … she hoped that wasn't who he was. Neither of them was willing to move on their position and it normally just ended with Levy looking like the uncaring girlfriend. She didn't want to have that fight here in front of everyone.

"You know I don't like you spending so much time with him, alone, after what he did." Jet said in a hush tone.

"He was unconscious until a few hours ago. You need to trust me a little bit, Jet." Levy was exasperated.

"I do trust you, it's him I don't trust." Jet argued.

"Hey Levy, I thought you were going to change." Lucy said, coming up and saving her friend from what she could tell was about to be a huge lover spat.

"Lu-Lu!" Levy clung to Lucy's arm like a lifeline. "I was just heading out. Come with me, we so need to catch up."

Lucy gave Jet a sweet, apologetic smile and let Levy drag her out the guildhall doors. They were a few blocks away before Levy slowed to a normal pace, sighing in relief. "Lu, you really saved me back there."

"Things not going well now that Gajeel is back?" Lucy asked, walking alongside Levy as they headed for Fairy Hills.

"Things weren't going that well before. Jet doesn't trust me." Levy told her.

"Maybe that's because he knows you don't really want to be with him." Lucy pointed out.

"I _am_ with him though. I'm not a cheater. I'm not leaving Jet." She said in frustration.

"I know that, you know that, but Jet doesn't know that. Maybe you should spend more time with him as opposed to Gajeel." Lucy suggested in a diplomatic tone.

Levy couldn't argue with her. She had been spending a lot of time with Gajeel now that he was back. Sure, he was injured and unconscious for nearly all of it and got pissed at her as soon as he was conscious but that didn't take away the fact, she _was_ ignoring Jet. She needed a change of subject; this was just depressing her. "So, Lu, tell me about the new chapter of your book!"

-0-

Gajeel could hear the noise from the guildhall on the other side of the door. He had been up for hours now and no one had come to see him. He wasn't sure if that was because they didn't care or if Levy and Lily had told them to leave him alone. Part of Gajeel was grateful for the alone time but a deeper part of him was hurt by the idea that his friends weren't worried about him.

Lily had filled him in on everything that had been happening while he was gone. He told him about how Laxus had rescued them and that they had Sangre locked up in the guild. He learned that most of the other guild members had been left unharmed and that at no point had they harmed Lily. When Gajeel got the courage to ask about Levy, all Lily said was "She's been worried about you," but he refused to explain what that meant.

Lily had retrieved real food and water along with some clothes for Gajeel. He was officially feeling better than he had in weeks. He was planning to wait for the party to die down then sneak off to his house for peace and quiet. He wasn't at all surprised when the door to the infirmary opened and Master Makarov walked in.

"I'm happy to see you up and looking well." The small man said. He stayed standing by the door.

"Takes a lot to keep me down." Gajeel said nonchalantly, he was silently cursing Lily for leaving him alone. The Exceed had gone out to assure everyone Gajeel was doing well. That had been ten minutes ago. Gajeel now realized what was keeping his friend was probably orders from Makarov.

"I wanted to talk to you about what happened, if that's alright." Makarov wasn't asking.

"Not much to tell. You were right about Raven Tail. They were attacking and capturing our mages to try and get information about the guild. Ivan still has a hard on about Laxus' lacrima and now is obsessing about something called the Lumen Histoire." Gajeel didn't miss the concerned look that crossed over the master's face.

"I was hoping Ivan would forget about that." Makarov muttered to himself.

"Looks like that's not about to happen. I told them I had no clue what they were talking about. They didn't very much care for my answers." Makarov made a noise to indicate he heard and understood Gajeel, but he didn't comment. "Anyways I'm sure Laxus fucked things up for them and now that their base has been discovered they will probably leave us alone for a little while."

"We will make sure we are ready for them when they come back." Makarov assured him. Makarov didn't share the information that no connection with Raven Tail was found at the hideout. The only link was the boy, Sangre, but Makarov was keeping him close. It looked like the Ruin Knights would be ruling this the act of a group of mercenaries with a grudge against Fairy Tail. Ivan had managed to her away with it.

"Yeah, I'm sure" Gajeel scuffed. An uncomfortable silence fell between the two men. Makarov didn't know what to say to Gajeel and Gajeel wasn't really wanting to talk about what happened.

"Gajeel, about what happened …" Makarov started.

"Did Laxus find anyone else there?" Gajeel interrupted. "A young woman, blue hair, she was on the short side."

Makarov shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Was she being held by Raven Tail as well?"

Gajeel sighed. "Something like that. Cobra got away too, huh?"

"I'm afraid so." Makarov said.

Gajeel smirked a little at that. Good, he wanted to take that bastard down himself. He just hoped he was able to get away from Bones. No one deserved to be controlled like that, not even that bastard.

"I'll let you get your rest." Makarov said, turning to leave.

"One more thing old man. Do you know anything about a chick who was once a snake and is now human?" Gajeel asked. He didn't miss the way the master froze and his whole body tensed up.

"No, I've never heard of such a thing." Makarov said before leaving the room.

 _Sure, you haven't. I nearly die for you and you're still going to lie to me._ Gajeel sighed and went back to his waiting game. He had his strong suspicions on who it was that Cobra had been looking for. He didn't like owing anyone favors, especially people who tried to kill him. Unfortunately, he knew it was thanks in part to Cobra that he was alive right now and that meant he owed him, and there was only one thing the man wanted. Gajeel had a lot of things he needed to figure out, Levy, Cobra, and finding Bones.


	14. Chapter 14

Gajeel thought that getting back home would fix everything. He could rest, heal up and be back to himself in a day or two. He thought his life would go back to normal. He thought he would be able to forget about Bones and everything she did to him. He thought he would never have to see or think about her again. He thought he was strong enough to handle everything on his own. He thought wrong.

Gajeel wasn't even strong enough to get home on his own. Between his injuries and the fact that he hadn't walked in almost ten weeks … it had only been ten weeks … Gajeel's legs would not support him. Lily had to fly Gajeel home and support most of his weight to get him into bed. It was embarrassing but at least no one saw them. Gajeel could live with Lily seeing how weak he was. He could not live with the nightmares.

The dark had gone from a slight discomfort, a minor inconvenience, to a full-blown phobia. Lily had shut off the lights so Gajeel could get some sleep, but sleep was the one thing he couldn't do. As soon as Gajeel vison went dark his heart started racing. It felt like he couldn't breathe, his chest was tight, his body was trembling, there was a buzzing in his ears. He reached for his magic, looking for comfort in its strength, but found nothing. He was still too weak; his inner dragon was just as frozen by fear as he was. His shadow friends were back, playing at the edge of his vision, somehow darker than the pitch black of the room. They called out to him, over and over. Gajeel shut his eyes and covered his ears, trying to ignore them.

"Gajeel, are you all right?" Gajeel's eyes snapped open when he felt someone touch his arm. He was momentarily blinded by the bright light that had returned to the room. Lily was standing next to him on the bed, looking concerned. It had been him, not the shadows, that had been calling out to Gajeel.

"I'm fine." Gajeel muttered. His racing heart slowed, his breathing becoming easier.

Lily didn't look at all convinced that Gajeel was even close to fine. "Should I leave the light on?"

"Do what you want." Gajeel said, laying back down in the bed and covering himself with a pile of blankets. Cocooning himself in the warmth and weight of them, helping him feel safe.

Lily didn't push things. He laid down in his spot in bed. He waited until Gajeel was asleep before he closed his eyes to rest.

Gajeel didn't sleep long. His dreams were nothing but nightmarish memories. Everything was so fresh, so detailed, he could almost feel it all over again. He slept for maybe an hour before being woken by his own panic. He would stay up for a few hours, watching Lily sleeping, before his exhaustion won out and he was pulled back into his nightmares to repeat the process again.

That wasn't the worse of it. The nightmares he could handle. The darkness he could tolerate. The worse part came the next afternoon.

Lily had to leave to go to the store. Gajeel was healing quickly now that he was awake and able to ingest iron, but they still needed real food and Lily wanted to get something to help Gajeel sleep. Lily grabbed his thing and left. Left Gajeel all alone.

The sound of the front door closing echoed through the house. Gajeel felt a dark cloud settle over him, he could only describe it as a feeling of impending doom. He tried to push it aside, there was nothing to be afraid of. He was home, he was safe … he was alone.

It felt like the walls were starting to close in on him. The silence in the house rang in his ears. He grabbed at his chest as breathing became harder as he hyperventilated. He scanned the room fervently looking for something to calm his out of control heart. He couldn't find what he needed. He needed air, he needed open space, he needed people.

Gajeel dragged himself out of bed. His legs were still weak, the wounds still open, but he couldn't stay in bed. He had to get out! He held on to the bed for support as he slowly walked across the room. His panic increased at his slow pace and how hard it was to move. His eyes focused on the front door he could see down the hallway, everything else was fuzzy. He pushed off the bed and slammed into the doorway as he moved to his goal. He didn't notice the pain in his legs or in his shoulder where it hit the wall.

When he reached the end of the hall there was nothing to hold onto. The door was fifteen feet away. He tried to walk there but his legs gave out after the first step away from the wall. Gajeel stared at the door. He had to get there, he had to get outside, he needed to get to people.

Gajeel started crawling for the door. Even as he inched closer to the door his breathing became harder, his vison clouded. He knew he wouldn't make it. Even if he did, he wouldn't get outside, wouldn't make it to the street where there would be other people. Even if he did, he didn't want anyone to see him like this. He would never live it down. All these thoughts raced in his head, increasing his panic until he finally blacked out.

"Gajeel … Gajeel are you all right? Gajeel?"

Gajeel woke up to Lily's voice. The exceed was standing over him trying to shake him awake. He was in his larger battle form and for half a heartbeat Gajeel didn't recognize him. He jumped back, startled at first, but once he recognized his friend it took all his self-control not to hug the Exceed.

"Gajeel, what happened?" Lily asked calmly.

"I was … trying to get outside." Gajeel said, clearly embarrassed. He slapped his leg in frustration. "I just want to fucking walk!"

Lily sighed and helped Gajeel up against his protest, heading back to the bedroom. "You are still recovering. You are an extraordinarily fast healer but even for you this will take time."

Gajeel didn't respond as he sat on the edge of the bed. He had seen his injuries, most were closed, scared over, as healed as they would get. The slices and tears that had covered his torso were closed, and while he wasn't winning any beauty contest now, they didn't hinder him otherwise. His wrist and ankles were scared from the early days of the restraints before Sangre had padded them, faint marks you could hardly see. His shoulder constantly ached; his range of motion limited by the multiple times he had dislocated it in his attempts to escape. His legs though … Bones had been aiming to cripple him and she did one hell of a job. The slashes to his thighs had been deep, tearing out muscle. They were still healing, scaring over, forming long canyons in his legs. It was true he was still healing, but just how much could his body fix? Was there really any hope of him walking, let alone fighting, again?

"I need a drink." Gajeel muttered.

"I'll get you some water." Lilly offered, heading to the kitchen.

"Beer!" Gajeel called after him. "Two!"

That was Gajeel's lowest point. The point where he gave up. The point where he had to finally admit he lost, and Bones won. No matter how bad things had gotten while he had been held captive Gajeel always figured he would either die or get rescued and go back to his old life. He had not expected this to ever happen. He was forever trapped with a body that refused to work and a mind that refused to forget. The only thing he could do is drink until he blacked out, at least that way the memories would stop.

-0-

Things around the guild had returned to normal surprisingly quickly. Everyone was back to working jobs, Request were flying off the board almost as fast as they came in. Macao and Warren told exaggerated stories about their confinement like it had been nothing more than a monster hunt. Laxus would show up at the guild on occasion, alone, to question Sangre who was still in the guild cells. The rest of the Thunder Legion hadn't been seen since they first returned, rumor was they went after Raven Tail. They weren't the only ones not to be seen either.

No one had seen or heard from Gajeel since he had woken up. Levy saw Panther Lily who assured her Gajeel was recovering but she didn't hear from Gajeel. It had only been a few days and maybe he just wasn't ready to see anyone yet. She knew that was probably the case, knew he had suffered more than she could ever imagine, but it still hurt that he didn't talk with her. Levy was worried about him, had nursed him for five days until he woke up. Until he wanted nothing to do with her.

Levy was slowly starting to accept the loss of Gajeel. He had returned from Raven Tail, but he wasn't _really_ back. Levy didn't know what she had expected. Gajeel had been through hell, who wouldn't be changed after being held captive for over two months? Well … in truth, none of the others had changed at all. But they didn't go through what Gajeel did, Levy reminded herself. No matter how much she tried to reason with herself it felt like Gajeel had died, the man that came back, that had cried and then shoved her away wasn't the real Gajeel. It broke Levy's heart.

"Levy, can I ask a favor of you?" Levy looked up from her research notes to see Lily standing on the table in front of her. It was early morning and the guild was mostly empty. Levy had told Jet she was meeting Lucy for breakfast but really, she was using the time to work on her dragon research.

"What do you need?" Levy asked.

"I'm going to be gone overnight on a job and need someone to check in on Gajeel." Lily had left while Gajeel was still asleep. He was doing better, at least Lily hadn't found him passed out on the floor post panic attack again, but he didn't know how he would do overnight alone. He felt weird going on a job without Gajeel, but he wasn't up for working yet and they needed money to pay bills.

"Is he still not healed up?" Levy asked, worried.

"He isn't himself yet." Lily answered cryptically. "I am sure he will be fine. I'm just …"

"Worried about him." Levy finished for him. "Do you think he will be happy to see me?"

"No," Lily said honestly, "But you might be the only person other than me he will allow to check on him."

Levy thought it over. She didn't want to deal with an angry Gajeel or have him snapping at her again, but she couldn't forget how scared he had been either. The memory of him clinging to her as he cried was still fresh in her mind and made her worry about him.

"Sure, I'll check in on him." She promised.

That's how Levy found herself, several hours later, outside Gajeel's home. She tried knocking but got no answer. After a few more attempts she let herself in with the key Lily had given her. Gajeel might not be able to get to the door if he still wasn't healed up after all.

Levy was greeted with what looked like the guild hall after a party. There was trash and beer bottles everywhere. Dishes were piled up in the sink. Laundry was piled up next to a closet door that was open to show the washer and dryer. There was no denying that two bachelors lived here. Levy called out to Gajeel, but she got no answer. The door at the end of the hall was closed, she figured that was his bedroom and he must be asleep. Well, she might as well get to cleaning this pig sty, someone had to anyways.

Gajeel heard someone moving around the house when he woke up … came to? … recovered? What was it called after one drank themselves until they blacked out? Anyways, once Gajeel regained consciousness he heard someone moving around. He had a vague memory of Lily telling him he would be gone for a day or two. Was he back already? Had Gajeel drank that much?

Lily had been getting on Gajeel about his drinking. And his attitude. And his hygiene. If he had really been passed out for two days, he could only imagine what the Exceed would have to say to him. The least he could do was get up and drag his ass into the shower. Maybe if he bathed Lily would go easy on him.

Levy had mostly finished cleaning the front of the house when she heard the shower turn on. She was moving around the last load of laundry when she heard something heavy fall and what sounded like glass shattering coming from the bathroom, followed by several curses. Levy acted without thinking, rushing into the bathroom to make sure Gajeel was okay.

Gajeel was sitting on the floor of the shower, naked, with what looked to be a broken beer bottle on the ground around him. Levy stopped short when she saw him, hands covering her gaping mouth. It wasn't the fact he was naked that shocked her, it was the state his body was in. His torso was covered in over lapping scars. They pulled and twisted his skin. Somehow it looked worse then when he had first been injured. Seeing his scared body made her heart ache and she longed to know what happened, how to comfort him, but she didn't ask.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Gajeel snapped through greeted teeth. He was bent over, holding onto his left thigh. He had been in the middle of his shower when his leg had decided it no longer wanted to support his weight. It was now cramping, sending pain shooting through the damaged muscle. If that wasn't bad enough, instead of Lily coming to investigate it was Levy.

"What are you doing drinking beer in the shower?" Levy asked once she recovered from her initial shock.

"It's my house, I can do what I want." Gajeel said, hissing in pain and grabbing his leg tighter as the spasming intensified in his muscle.

"What happened?" Levy asked, worried about the pain in Gajeel's voice. She grabbed his towel and walked over to see how she could help.

"It's just a muscle cramp. I'll live." Gajeel snatched the towel from her to cover up with. Unfortunately, Gajeel was getting use to his leg giving out on him. He knew it would be at least half an hour before he would be able to stand.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Levy asked, she was there to look after him after all.

"No … Oi what are you doing?" Gajeel moved himself back from Levy as she reached out for his leg. He managed to slice open his hand on some broken glass.

"I was going to help you work out the cramp. Jet gets them all the time. If you sit still, I'll have you feeling better in no time." Levy scolded him.

It went against Gajeel's gut instincts to sit there and let Levy touch him, but he did it. He was tense as she massaged the muscle. Part of his head was screaming about the fact she was even touching him, especially so high on his leg, but a larger part was just happy to have Levy there.

Levy massaged the spasming muscle, the pressure hurt but it was helping. Levy worked around the large scar, almost as if she were afraid to touch it. In under a minute the spasms stopped, and he was feeling better. His leg still ached and felt tight, but he wasn't getting jolts of pain.

"Better?" Levy asked. She got a non-committal noise from Gajeel that she took as a yes. "Dry yourself off and I'll bandage that cut before showing you a few stretches to help keep this from happening."

"Why are you here? Helping me?" Gajeel asked as Levy got up to leave the room.

"Because you're my friend and need help." Levy said as she left.

Gajeel dried himself off as best he could and hobbled his way back to his bedroom. Putting weight on his left leg was still painful and difficult, he wasn't convinced it would really hold his weight and it didn't seem to want to follow his brain anyways.

When Levy came back, she tossed a pair of Gajeel's boxer briefs at him, they were still warm from the dryer. He kept his questions to himself, just grateful to have something other than a towel to cover up with. Neither of them said anything as Levy pulled glass out of his palm before wrapping it with gauze.

"You aren't a half bad nurse." Gajeel commented once his hand was wrapped and he was somewhat dressed.

"I've had a lot of practice lately." Levy said, not able to look at Gajeel.

"Yeah … I never did thank you for that." Gajeel said sheepishly.

"You don't have to. I would do it for any of my friends." Levy told him.

"I wasn't sure we were still friends … after what happened." Gajeel said.

"Why did you do it? Why attack Jet?" Levy asked him, looking him in the eyes for probably the first time since she found him.

It was Gajeel's turn to divert his eyes. He didn't say anything, what was he supposed to say? He couldn't admit he was jealous, that he wanted her as his mate. Worse was the fact that, if she did accept that, he was so broken now he didn't deserve her. Not that he ever had deserved her.

Levy sighed when she didn't get an answer. "Lay down and I'll help you stretch out."

"You do this with Speedy?" Gajeel asked, reluctantly laying down. The position brought up memories he tried to push to the side and talking helped him do that.

"Yeah, sometimes when he pushes himself to far his legs will give him problems for a few days. I think sometimes he forgets he is only human." Levy laid out Gajeel's legs, so they were straight before bending his left knee. "Let me know if any of this hurt, don't be a tough guy."

"Gehe, have you met me?" Gajeel joked.

Levy took that as agreement and lifted Gajeel's leg up and pushed his knee towards his chest. She didn't push him to hard, giving his muscle a chance to stretch. Levy worked Gajeel slowly through several stretches, focusing first on his left leg before repeating on his right side. Gajeel had to focus on his breathing during the stretches. They didn't hurt but it was uncomfortable. Luckily, it was enough of a distraction to keep him from going completely into his head.

"How does that feel?" Levy asked when she finished.

It felt like Gajeel had run a marathon, but also it did feel better. "I've been through worse."

Levy rolled her eyes a him. "No wonder Lily asked me check in on you."

"I'm glad he did." The words were out of Gajeel's mouth before he even thought them. "I mean … I finally have clean clothes."

"I would say you two are slobs, but I'm constantly having to clean up after Jet and Droy. This is almost clean in comparison." Levy said and Gajeel laughed for the first time in … to long.

There was a moment of awkward silence that fell over them. Levy broke it by excusing herself to go make them dinner. Gajeel managed to get himself to put on sleep pants before going out to join her in the kitchen. The first thing he did was grab a beer out of habit.

"Oh no you don't." Levy said, taking the bottle from his hand before he could even open it.

"Oi, that's mine woman!" Gajeel shouted at her.

"Judging from all the bottles I just cleaned up, I would say you had enough for a lifetime." Levy turned her back on Gajeel to put the beer back.

Gajeel reached around her to grab the bottle again. He got a face full of her hair, her scent, and for a flash of a moment he was back in that cave. The suddenness of the memory shocked him, and he stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet, his grip on the counter the only thing that kept him from falling.

"Gajeel, are you oaky?" Levy asked, spinning around and reaching out to help him get stable.

Gajeel pulled back out of reach. The image of concerned Levy and condescending Bones were blurring together in his vision. He shook his head, trying to clear it. He was pressed back against the countertop and, while he wasn't trapped, he felt trapped. He felt his panic starting to rise. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to fight off what he knew was coming. _Not now_ , he pleaded without himself, _not in front of her_.

He felt a small, delicate hand gently cup his cheek. The scent was back, old books and jasmine. Even though it had been that scent that sent him tumbling down this dark hole, it was now what ground him. He grabbed Levy's hand, tuning his nose into her wrist to breathe in her scent. He could feel her slow, steady pulse under his fingers and his heart slowed to match it. As suddenly as he was thrown into the dark, he was brought back out.

Gajeel didn't want to open his eyes, he didn't want to see the pity on Levy's face, didn't want to face her questioning eyes, but he didn't have a choice. When he opened his eyes, they met Levy's, but there was no pity. Levy was giving him a gentle smile. Her eyes held some emotion in them that he couldn't place but it made him feel safe, if slightly embarrassed.

"Gajeel," Levy started. Gajeel sighed, getting ready for the questions. "How does chicken and rice sound for dinner?"

Gajeel was in shock for a full three seconds. Levy wasn't going to question him? She was just going to let what happened go? He was as surprised by the action as he was by how much it meant to him. Lily always wanted Gajeel to talk after an episode, wanted to know why it happened like it meant he could stop it. To have someone accept that it happened and just move on was … everything to him right then. "Umm, sure."

Levy pulled her hand out of Gajeel's slowly and turned her back to him to start dinner. She didn't try to stop him this time when he grabbed a bottle of beer. She had so many questions in her head she didn't dare ask. She had recognized the look of fear and panic on Gajeel's face, she had worn it herself more than once. Panic, anxiety like that didn't have explanations, they didn't make sense. There was no why, no reason, to a panic attack like that. Sure, there was things that were more likely to cause one, but she also knew they could happen for no reason at all. Trying to understand it would only make someone like Gajeel angry and defensive. It was best for her to ignore it and allow him to figure things out on his own. She would be here if he wanted to talk.

Dinner went by without any other incidents. Levy had made Gajeel some more of her Solid Script: Iron for him. She watched, nervously, as he ran his finger over the heart shaped hole in the "O" for the entirety for dinner. They talked briefly about guild gossip but once Gajeel asked about what she was working on lately, the conversation was completely taken over by talk of her dragon research. Gajeel was just as excited about all her research as she was. Levy couldn't lie, it was nice to have someone who cared about her passion as much as she did. Jet would listen, but he didn't care, he didn't get as animated as Gajeel was. Gajeel seemed honestly excited about her ideas and helped fill in some of the missing information where he could.

"I'm almost positive dragons would sometimes form family units. It's just so hard to put together." Levy said, running her hand through her hair in frustration.

"Mates, yeah that's a thing." Gajeel said, taking a bite off his Solid Script: Iron, he was now down to just the "O" remaining.

"Yes! Mates! I knew that had to be a thing! There are nearly a dozen cases I have found of two dragons being sighted together for years on end with no others." Levy was overjoyed to have someone confirm her main theory. Her half-eaten plate was left forgotten. "Was Metalicana mated?"

Gajeel gave a dry laugh. "No way. He used to say it weakened all of dragon kind. He wasn't really the touchy-feely sort."

"Something he passed down I see." Levy joked.

"Oi! I have feelings." Gajeel tried to defend himself but Levy just laughed at him. Gajeel found himself smiling slightly. For the first time since the Dragonoph temple Gajeel was starting to feel normal again. It was strange how just being treated as normal made him feel normal.

Gajeel's eyes drifted down to the iron "O" that was on the table. He traced his finger around the heart shape in the middle. Was this something Levy did for anything with an "O" in it? Gajeel couldn't remember, he never paid attention before. Maybe, just maybe, it was meant just for him. Maybe it meant Levy might feel the same way about him as he did for her. Could he dare hope that this perfect woman who made him feel human might love him.

Gajeel jumped when Levy placed her hand over his. He had been so lost in his thoughts he didn't hear the last thing she said.

"I said it's getting late. I should get going. Jet's going to get worried about me." Levy told him when he looked up at her.

"Jet, why the hell would he care?" Gajeel asked, confused and jealous.

"Well … we are kind of dating." Levy couldn't look at Gajeel as she said the words. She had been avoiding this topic intentionally. She felt him jerk his hand out from under hers but still she didn't look at him.

"Of course you are. I should have guessed." Gajeel got up to get another beer. He already had three with dinner, the last one was only half empty, but he didn't want to look at Levy, didn't want her to see his pain.

"Gajeel, I … I was going to tell you … I mean … I didn't think … I didn't think you would care." Levy stumbled over her words as she tried to explain herself, lying to them both.

"I'm happy for you. You deserve to be happy." He said, managing to sound honest. He opened his beer and took a long chug before turning to her and continuing. "I just thought you would do better than Speedy. Is it true he is the fasted man in Magnolia? I mean, I always thought women liked slow and steady, liked when a man put time and effort into making sure they got everything they wanted."

"Gajeel, stop." Levy sighed. Things had been going so well up to this point.

"I'm just trying to be a good friend. I mean, I'm sure Jet is happy, but I want to make sure you are satisfied … fully satisfied." Gajeel didn't even try to hide the double innuendo in his words, even allowing a sight invitation to slip into his words. Part of him hoped Levy would take him up on it too even though he knew he wouldn't be able to follow through. Just the idea of it made him feel dirty and angry.

"Why do you have to be such a pig?" Levy snapped at him. She got up and grabbed her bag, storming out of the house.

Gajeel thought about stopping her. He could apologize, ask her to stay, she might have actually done it, but he didn't. He watched the door close behind her and he was once again left along. It was just him, his beer, and the monsters in his head.


	15. Chapter 15

It was after dark by the time Levy got to Jet's apartment. She was so angry at Gajeel, and herself, that she thought about not going to Jet's at all and just going home. She was halfway back to Fairy Hills when she remembered her notes were all at Jets. She might be mad at Gajeel, but she still wanted to write down all the information he gave her before she forgot.

She was angry at Gajeel for his childish … jealous? … behavior. _I want to make sure you're satisfied … fully satisfied._ Gah! Who says things like that? More than that, she was angry at herself. Angry at the shiver that ran down her spin at his words. Angry that she imagined his words were an invitation. Angry she wanted to accept that invitation. Because, in truth, she wasn't satisfied with Jet.

She was happy, content, but she wasn't really satisfied. She still hadn't had sex with him. They had been dating for three months and really it was more like they were friends who kissed a lot. It wasn't for a lack of interest on his part. Levy stayed over most nights and Jet always tried to start something. It was very much a lack of interest on her part.

Levy liked Jet, she could even tell herself she loved him and not feel it was a lie. He just … he didn't do it for her. He was tall and narrow, he had muscles, but he wasn't overly built, a runner's body. He was handsome, attractive, just not her type physically. Levy liked big muscular men. The fantasies she had about Laxus when she was younger …. She shook her head. Nope, didn't need to remember those days. Of course, chasing Laxus from her mind only left a spot for Gajeel to fill. Gajeel on the shower floor, walking around the house shirtless, laid out on the bed under her. Even scared up he was attractive, the memories alone enough to make her heart race and butterflies fill her stomach.

Levy again had to push those thoughts from her mind. She was with Jet, and while he might not affect her the same way physically that Gajeel did, did that really matter? Jet took care of her in every other way. He watched out for her, supported her, knew everything about her. How much did physical attraction really play into a relationship? Couldn't she just be happy with the strong psychological and emotional connection?

"You're home late. Where have you been?" Jet asked in a conversational tone when Levy walked in. Still something in his words hit her wrong.

"This isn't my home. I just came to grab my notes." Levy said, walking over to the table that held her notebooks and gathering them up.

Jet frowned at the short tone she took with him. It was the same tone of voice she used if he talked down about some ancient culture that she was interested in. He looked to Droy as if to ask _What's wrong with her?_ He only got a confused look and shrug in response.

"Did something happen today?" Jet asked, being careful with his words, not wanting to anger her more.

"No, why do you think something happened?" Levy went from sounding angry to sounding guilty.

"I was expecting you for dinner and you never showed." Jet said. He had moved across the apartment, so he was next to her, gently grabbing her arm to get her attention on him and not her notebooks. "Where were you?"

"I was making dinner for Gajeel." Levy said quietly. She wasn't look at Jet's face, more his collarbone area.

"You … What!" Jet snapped. He took a step back from Levy like she might burn him. "I thought he was on a job!"

"No, he is still recovering. Lily is working and he asked me to check on Gajeel." Levy didn't have any shame in that. It had been a good thing she had been there. Gajeel was a mess. If anything, she felt guilty for leaving him.

"So, you were alone with him? All day?" Jet accused.

"Guys … this isn't worth fighting over." Droy tried to stop the escalating tension but they ignored him.

"He slept most of the day, but yes. I was at his house. Alone. With Gajeel. And nothing happened, I left in one piece." Levy held out her arms as if to show that she was all there before she grabbed her books and headed to the door. Jet appeared before her and blocked her from leaving.

"I don't want you spending time with him." Jet said.

"He is my friend, Jet. I'm going to help him in any way I can." Levy insisted.

"Yeah, help him right into your bed." Jet muttered quietly to himself. Levy wasn't sure if he meant her to hear it, but she did, and it hurt. Angry tears burning in her eyes, but she wasn't going to let him make her cry.

"Let me leave, Jet." Levy said softly, just controlling her anger.

"Why? Just so you can run back to him?" Jet accused her.

"Jet, maybe you should just let her leave." Droy tried again to defuse the situation. Jet just glared at him over Levy's head.

"Is that what you really think of me Jet? After all these years you really think I would run off and sleep with Gajeel?" Her hurt slipped into her words.

"Well you're not sleeping with me." Jet again muttered in that quiet tone that she could just make out. It hit her then that that was exactly what he thought. He had no trust in her at all.

"I wish you would just trust me. I'm with you. I'm dating you. I want you, no one else." Levy insisted.

Jet gave her a smile that didn't even come close to reaching his eyes. It looked as empty and hallow as he felt.

"You're not a bad liar, I almost believed that one." Jet moved out of her way. "Just go."

"Jet … I'm not …" _Lying_? But wasn't she lying? To him and to herself.

"Go." Jet said again before turning his back to her and going to his room, slamming the door shut. Levy stared at the closed door for a long while before Droy finally spoke up.

"He hasn't been himself lately." He said trying to make excuses for his friend.

"Not since Gajeel woke up I'm guessing." Levy said. She was debating leaving or trying to talk things out with Jet.

Droy didn't say anything, looking away. It had actually started a little before that, when Jet had figured out Levy was sleeping in the infirmary with Gajeel. That night he had come home and cried for hours. He was sure he had lost her, and it broke something in him. When Levy didn't leave him though he became determined to hold on to her even tighter than before. Droy could see all he was doing was pushing her further away, Jet just couldn't see it.

"I should go talk to him." Droy said, heading to Jet's room. Levy stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Let me do it." All her anger was gone. Now she just felt tired and ashamed.

Levy walked into Jet's room without bothering to knock. She saw him sitting on the edge of his bed, head in his hands. He looked so small and alone right then. "Jet?"

He didn't look up at her, instead talking to his lap. "I thought you were leaving?"

"I can't leave things like this." She walked over and sat on the bed an arm's length away from him. "I should have told you I was going over to Gajeel's."

"You shouldn't have gone over at all." He said, finally looking up but his eyes were fixed on the wall in front of him.

"Jet, he is my friend and he needed help. You can't ask me it abandon my friends just because you are jealous. I can't do that." Levy told him.

"Why does it have to be him?" Jet almost spat the last word out.

"Because he is the one that got hurt trying to bring our friends back." She said calmly.

"Did you forget what he did to us? To you?" Jet asked, finally turning to look at him.

"No, I haven't. I also haven't forgotten everything he has done since. He has changed."

Jet rubbed at his throat. "Not that much."

Levy sighed. This was something the two of them just were never going to see eye to eye on. She instead focused on his other issue. "I'm not sleeping with anyone."

"Yeah, I've noticed." Jet said somewhat bitterly.

"Jet, that first time … It was a mistake …" She started to explain.

"You've made that clear, Levy. I just thought that would have changed now that we are dating." Jet cut her off.

"I mean I wasn't ready then; I was just upset. I'm still not ready, Jet. I don't know when I'll be ready, but I'll let you know when I am." Levy said, looking at her hands in her lap.

Jet grabbed her chin and turned her face to be looking at him. "I don't want to lose you, Levy. I love you more than anything."

"Then stop pushing me away. I really like you, Jet, but I don't like how you are treating me." Levy pulled out of his reach.

Jet moved and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into his lap. "I'll do better, I promise."

-0-

Gajeel woke up exhausted the next morning. He had his normal night of fitful sleep. There hadn't been enough booze left in the house for him to black out but there was enough to give him a killer hangover. The nightmares didn't help his situation. He lost track of how many times he woke up screaming anymore. The number of times he clawed at himself in his sleep thinking he was fighting an enemy were too numerous to count. It was starting to feel like the nightmares were real and the real world was a dream.

As he got out of bed, his head was already pounding. He got up and got showered, Lily was going to be home after all. It wasn't until he was getting dressed that he realized his legs weren't hurting. He wasn't having to hold on to thing and he wasn't limping. He didn't know if it was the stretching or the magic iron but whatever Levy did seem to have helped.

Gajeel finished getting dress, took some pain reliver for his head, and looked for breakfast. The only thing he could find was the iron "O" he had saved from yesterday, some eggs, and a stray beer he had somehow missed. He thought about just making eggs and calling it good until he got a better idea. Lily was so worried about Gajeel taking care of himself, felt he needed to send a babysitter, well Gajeel would show him. He was feeling better than he had in a long time. He would have breakfast at the guild and be there when Lily got back. That would show him.

It was a four mile walk to the guildhall. Normal it wasn't a terribly long walk for Gajeel, just through the center of town. Today it seemed to stretch on forever. By the time he made it to the guildhall doors his legs ached and felt like jelly. Any good feelings he had that morning was gone and he now realized he may have made a mistake. It was way to late to turn back now, he would never make the walk. Gajeel pushed the door open and walked inside.

The guild was only part way full, only late morning. Gajeel worked his way over to the end of the bar without anyone giving him a second look. He normally sat at the far end of the bar or a secluded table, but he didn't trust his legs to hold out that much longer, so he took a seat at the end of the bar closest to the door. Mira came up to him almost instantly.

"It's good to see you in here. We've missed you. What can I get for you?" She asked in her cheery voice. Normally something Gajeel found slightly aggravating, now it was pleasant, and he found himself smiling slightly.

"Omelet and bacon, and a beer." He told her.

"Coming right up." She said in her chipper tone and then vanished to put his order in.

Gajeel turned in his seat to look out at the guild. The normal groups were all in place. There was the gentle hum of overlapping conversations. The smell of stale beer and old wine mixed with slightly charred wood, thanks Natsu. There was a comfort to this place, a warmth that seeped into Gajeel's skin. Gajeel was shock to realize this was what it felt like to be home.

"Kurogane!" Gajeel is knocked off his seat when someone tackled him. He lays sprawled out on the floor. His head is throbbing from where it hit the stone floor. Sitting on top of him was a girl with long pink hair. The strong scent of citrus and jasmine almost made him have to sneeze. He only had a moment to process what his situation was before he had to slam his eyes shut and fight back the memories.

"Kurogane, I'm so glad you are back!" The girl was bouncing up and down in his lap with her excitement. In his mind it was Bones on his lap, Bones bouncing up and down as she used his body. Without thought his arm turned into an iron bar and, as he pushed the girl off him, he slammed her into a near by table, breaking it in half.

"Get off me!" He screamed at her. He held on tight to his anger, the only thing that was keeping the anxiety at bay.

"I'm sorry. I was just so excited to meet you, Kurogane. I've been a huge fan of yours for a long time. When I was little, I kept all the Sorcerer Weekly's you were in. I was heart broken when you vanished. But than you showed up at the Grand Magic Games! You were so strong, and we were finally the same age. I knew I had to join Fairy Tail just for the chance to meet you!" The girl was talking in quick, excited burst. She didn't seem at all put off about the fact she had just been thrown through a table.

"Who is this chick?" Gajeel asked as he got back to his feet. His legs were still unsteady, so he sat down immediately. He was finally able to get a good look at her. She was wearing an almost neon green dress that clashed with her pink hair. He could see the edge of her pink guild mark poking out of the top of her dress, it had been placed on her left breast. She had pale purple eyes and way too much energy. Gajeel instantly disliked her.

"I guess you weren't here when she joined, were you. This is Arianna, one of your newest members." Mira said, completely ignoring the damage that was done as she placed Gajeel's order in front of him. Only the members of the guild closest to them even looked up at the commotion.

"You owe me a hundred jewel." Wakaba said from a nearby table.

"How could you have known he would throw her?" Macao asked in shock as he handed over the money.

"It's all about knowing your guildmates." Wakaba laughed as he smoked his pipe.

"It's so nice to finally meet you, Kurogane." Arianna said, bowing repeatedly to Gajeel. "Well … I mean … I meet you once before. But you were stone. So, I guess you wouldn't remember that. I'm really happy you are feeling better. I was really worried about you, but I knew you would pull through. I mean, you are the great Iron Dragon Slayer and all. I thought what they did to me was bad, but when I saw you … I mean … I'm glad you are okay."

The girl was speaking so fast Gajeel was having trouble following what she was saying. He looked to Mira for a translation.

"She was captured by Raven Tail along with Freed and Macao after you." Mira explained to him. Gajeel nodded at her like that made sense to him then held his pounding head.

"Oh my! Did I hurt you?" Arianna ran over and started running her hands through Gajeel's hair, looking for injuries, finding a large bump on the back of his head.

Gajeel hissed in pain and shoved her away again. "Don't touch me!"

"I'm so sorry, Kurogane. I never meant to hurt you." Arianna said, reaching for his head again but he shoved her hands away.

"And stop calling me that! The name is Gajeel! Got it!" He snapped at her.

Arianna's eyes got huge and for a second Gajeel thought she was going to cry, at least until she squealed in excitement. "You want me to call you by your first name!"

Gajeel tuned his back to her and laid his head on the bar with a thump, just missing his food. Today had not been a good day to go out.

"Gajeel! It's good to see you out!" Levy called over to him as she came in the guild. Immediately Gajeel's mood improved. Yes, someone had come to save him. "I've seen you met Arianna."

"Isn't it just wonderful!" Arianna said, running over to Levy and pulling her into a tight hug. "He even says I can call him by his first name! We are already becoming such close friend!"

Levy gave Gajeel a sympathetic look. She and Arianna had become fast friends when she had first joined the guild. The girl could be very hyper at times, but she was very kind. Levy had been a little worried at her suspicious and guarded behavior after what had happened, but she had quickly returned to her old self. She was a lot to handle at times but most everyone in the guild seemed to like her.

"Hey, me and the girls were going to go shopping for some new outfits, do you want to come?" Levy actually didn't have a shopping trip planed, but Lucy and Erza were always up for shopping and she was sure she could get Cana and Lisanna to come along.

"Oh, yes! Maybe I can find a new outfit for Gajeel and we can get you something nice and sexy for Jet." Arianna said, she seemed to be nothing but a ball of excited energy at the moment.

Gajeel mouthed 'Thank you' to Levy who smiled at him.

"Hey, I want to talk more about dragons." She said to Gajeel as she was getting dragged away by Arianna. "See you later?"

Gajeel didn't get a chance to answer before Levy was again out the door. Gajeel sighed as he was finally able to sit and eat his breakfast in peace.

It was midday before the next bit of exciting stuff happened. Gajeel had made himself comfortable in his new spot. He could actually see the entire guild from here and it made people watching easy. Several people said hi to him or waved as they came and went from the guild. People who knew him well enough expressed their joy at seeing him well again. Natsu tried to pick a fight with him and Wendy tried to apologies for not healing him but ended up growling at him and running away … What was that about? Gajeel was starting to feel like not only did he have a home, but he had a family.

"I am not taking the brat." Laxus shouted as he entered the main guild from the door that lead to the cells.

"You don't have a choice." Makarov said, he was following behind Laxus with Sangre by his side. The kid was in new clothes and didn't have any restraints on.

"As a matter of fact, I do. He is not my responsibility." Laxus said, still trying to get away from his grandfather.

"Should have thought of that before you knocked up my mom." Sangre said with a smirk on his face.

Laxus turned around to face the kid. "You aren't my kid."

"Laxus, my boy, we all make poor choices in life and we all must live with the consequences." Makarov said in a calm tone. Laxus turned his glare onto him.

"I've made my share of mistakes." Laxus said before pointing a finger at Sangre. "But that ain't one of them."

"I'm a fourth generation Dragon Slayer. The first ever son of a Dragon Slayer. The first to be born into my power." Sangre still had that smirk on his face. He was enjoying this far too much.

"That don't make me your father." Laxus said, he was frustrated but it came off as defensive. He was working on hunting his father down and didn't need the distraction of this kid. Especially seeing Sangre practically worshiped Ivan. Brat couldn't be snooping around, ruining his plans.

The bickering continued as Gajeel turned to Kinana, who was filling in for Mira. "What is he doing here?"

"Laxus brought him back. They kept him down in the cells until now. I feel bad for him. He is just a kid." She explained to Gajeel. He didn't feel bad at all. He might be a kid, but he knew what was going on and was a willing part of it.

"You are taking him with you and that's final." Makarov said, growing in size to fill the guild to the ceiling.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Laxus said. He knew better than to continue to argue with his grandfather once he got to this point. He wasn't afraid of him or anything, he just knew when to cut his losses. "Come on, I have more important things to do than babysit you all day."

"What's more important than being a loving father? You know, I probably wouldn't have turned out so bad if only I had a good father figure in my life." Sangre said as he followed Laxus out of the guild. Laxus had to resist the urge to electrocute the kid. How old did he have to be before it was no longer child abuse?

Gajeel thought about telling Makarov there was no way Sangre was Laxus' kid. Sure, Laxus would have been twenty, maybe twenty-one when the kid was born so it could be possible, but Gajeel highly doubted it. Sangre hadn't cared one way or another if Laxus had lived or died. It was possible that he just cared that little about his father, but he thought it unlikely. There was also the connection Gajeel had felt to his own unborn child. If it had been that strong in womb there was no way he would be able to be in the same room as his child and not know it.

Gajeel _could_ tell Makarov, or he could watch and enjoy the entertainment. He chose the latter.

It was shortly after that that Lily showed up, finally. He flew over to the bar to check in with Mira, not even noticing Gajeel there.

"Boo." Gajeel said as he came up behind Lily while he was talking to Mira.

"Gajeel?" Lily spun around to look at his friend, surprised to see him out. "You're …"

"Out and about?" Gajeel filled in the blank.

"I was going to say sober, but that too." Lily said, standing on the bar in front of Gajeel.

Gajeel laughed at his attempt at a joke. It was a little surprising he was sober. It was true he had been at the bar all day and had a few beers, but he wasn't knocking them back like he did at home. He didn't feel like he needed to. Besides when Arianna had surprised him, Gajeel hadn't had any anxiety problems.

"I thought I would get out and get some fresh air." Gajeel said.

Lily smiled up at him. "Looks good on you."

The two sat at the bar and caught up. Lily telling Gajeel about his job and Gajeel telling him about the drama around the guild that day. Gajeel's legs had recovered from his walk that morning. They still ached a little and felt tight when he moved around but he would probably be able to make the walk back home, although he was happy to have Lily there, just in case. Gajeel wasn't ready to go home yet though, he was enjoying being at the guild and, a part of him, was waiting for Levy to come back.

Unfortunately, when Levy did return, she didn't just bring Jet and Droy with her, she brought Arianna as well. Gajeel was ready for Arianna and her overly hyper self this time. When she tried to hug him, he held out his arm and kept her at a distance. That didn't seem to dissuade her as she simply clung to his arm like a cat.

"Gajeel, I'm so happy you're still here." Arianna squealed at him, the high pitch painful to his sensitive hearing.

"Yes, well Levy wanted to talk to me." He said in a bored tone. Lily said his polite greetings to Arianna, having met her first in the mountains and a few times at the guild since.

"She did, huh?" Jet said, giving Levy a suspicious look.

"I wanted to talk more about the dragon research I'm doing." Levy explained to most men. "Of course, I didn't get any work today."

The 'because I was saving your ass' was implied and Gajeel heard it loud and clear.

"I'm happy to have you pick my brain, on one condition." Gajeel said, holding up his finger as if to emphasis his point.

Levy was a little worried what that condition might be. Jet's arm went around her waist in a possessive move that no one missed. "What's the condition?" She asked.

"I want you to start training with me." Gajeel said.

"What?" Jet, Droy and Levy all asked.

"Can I train with you?" Arianna asked, cooing the last word.

"No." Gajeel said without looking at he leach still attached to his arm. The next part was addressed to Levy. "The training yesterday helped a lot. I know you want to learn to fight and I need someone with your … technique."

Levy cringed at the way Gajeel said that. She understood he meant he wanted help stretching and strengthening his legs, but he made it sound a lot more erotic than it was. Levy could even feel herself blushing under Jet's stare. She had only just convinced him that she wasn't sleeping with Gajeel and now this was happening. "Umm, I don't know."

"I want to learn to fight too." Arianna said. Gajeel ignored her except to try and free his arm. It was a hopeless venture.

"It's okay, go ahead and work with him." Jet said. Levy spun around in his arms to look at him in surprise.

"Do you mean that?" She asked, having to crane her neck to look up at him.

"Yeah. I mean this dragon thing is important to you, isn't it. So is helping your friends." He smiled at her, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "I trust you."

Levy was rendered speechless. Jet had said last night he was going to try to trust her more, but she would have never expected this. She didn't know what to say to thank him, so she got on her toes and kissed him.

Gajeel growled lowly as he watched the couple. Levy and Jet couldn't even hear it, but it did successfully remove Arianna from his arm. "Now that daddy gave you permission, training starts at sunrise."

Levy was grinning as she broke the kiss, looking over her shoulder at Gajeel. "I'll be there. Be ready to answer questions."


End file.
